Countee Cullen’s “For a Virgin” is a four-line epitaph giving voice to a person who kept their virginity for forty years. The speaker says they refused the physical desire that comes with being human, calling it “the lust / Inherent in my clay.” “Clay” suggests both the body and mortality—the flesh we are made of. In the end, only death seemed as passionate and persistent as a lover. The speaker gave in to death, not to any human partner. There is a bitter play on courtship here: the one suitor finally accepted is the one who takes everyone. The tone is quiet and ironic. Purity is preserved, but at a cost—the only embrace allowed is the grave’s. The mood is somber and rueful, mixing romantic language with dying to suggest that desire and death are two forces no body can entirely escape.
For a Virgin — Summary
For forty years I shunned the lust Inherent in my clay; Death only was so amorous I let him have his way.