Love is my sin and thy dear virtue hate, Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving: O, but with mine compare thou thine own state, And thou shalt find it merits not reproving; Or, if it do, not from those lips of thine, That have profaned their scarlet ornaments And seal'd false bonds of love as oft as mine, Robb'd others' beds' revenues of their rents. Be it lawful I love thee, as thou lovest those Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee: Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows Thy pity may deserve to pitied be. If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide, By self-example mayst thou be denied! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PURSUIT OF THE WORD by ROBERT FROST 1914: 5. THE SOLDIER by RUPERT BROOKE ALL IS VANITY, SAITH THE PREACHER' by GEORGE GORDON BYRON THE DYING SWAN by THOMAS STURGE MOORE THE ABSTINENT LOVER by ABUL BAHR AIR: 'CAPTAIN JINKS' by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |