Comus is a masque (a kind of 17th century music and dance number) by John Milton as homage to the virtue of chastity. The plot concerns two brothers and their sister, who lags behind after the two men wander off in search of food. She is approached by Comus, a gaudy apparition who promised her to lead her back to his siblings. Using a ruse, he takes her to his palace and tempts her with several items of luxury. She refuses all offers of indulgence while staying true to her freedom of mind. Eventually, her two brothers, with the aid of the "attendant spirit" show up at the palace, chase off Comus and free her from the bindings that kept her strapped to the chair.
Som say no evil thing that walks by night
In fog, or fire, by lake, or moorish fen,
Blew meager Hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost,
That breaks his magick chains at curfeu time,
No goblin, or swart faery of the mine,
Hath hurtfull power o’re true virginity.
-John Milton, Comus
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