 I burned in my youth to get my fill of hell, and I made bold to go wild in the dark woods of various loves, and my beauty faded away, and I stank in your sight, Lord, while I pleased myself and longed to please the eyes of men. The sins he is about to confess are quite serious. Why does Augustine feel compelled to make this all public? I wish to call to mind the ways I was befouled, he says, and the fleshly corruptions of my soul, not because I loved them, but so that I may love you, my God.