An “enigma in praise of women,” from an 1820 miscellany:

Happy that man may pass his life,
Who’s free from matrimonial chains;
Who is directed by a wife,
Is sure to suffer for his pains.

What tongue is able to unfold
The falsehood which in women dwell?
The worth in women you behold
Is almost imperceptible.

Adam could find no solid peace
When Eve was given him for a mate;
Till he beheld a woman’s face,
Adam was in a happy state.

See, in the female race appear
Hypocrisy, deceit, and pride;
Truth, darling of a heart sincere,
In women never can reside.

They’re always studying to employ
Their time in malice and in lies;
Their leisure hours in virtuous joy
To spend, ne’er in their thoughts arise.

Destruction take the men, I say,
Who make the fair their chief delight;
Who no regard to women pay,
Keep reason always in their sight.

“By reading the first and third lines together the Enigma is explained.”