Shakespeare's Sonnet 142

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 profan’d their scarlet ornamentsAnd 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 lov’st thoseWhom 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!

Love is my sin, and hatred is the virtue you prize: hatred of my sin, which is based on sinful love. But compare your own situation with mine, and you will find that mine deserves no blame. Or if it does, that blame should not come from your lips, which have dishonored their own red beauty, sealed false promises of love as often as mine, and robbed other people's marriages of the love owed to them. Let me be allowed to love you, just as you love those your eyes pursue, as mine plead with you. Plant pity in your heart so that, when it grows, your pity may earn you pity in return. If you seek the compassion you refuse to show, your own example may be used to deny you!