No scarlet letter on this chest of mine
Does brand me 'til the end of time,
Yet still, my hand clutched to my heart
Brings back memories of the painful start

Of where the sins of passions lay,
A needle trapped inside the hay,
They stood upon the scaffold today,
Bidding men to rebuke them -
Them and their scarlet "A"

An "A," an "M," it matters not
Wherefore your sin of letters got
An "S," perchance? A little white "L"?
Pray tell, good sir, pray tell!

Where once the sins of passions lay;
A needle trapped inside the hay.
As they stood upon the scaffold today,
They bade men to rebuke them -
Them and their scarlet "A"