Sonnet 142 [German translation]

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 sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine,

Robbed others' beds' revénues of their rents.

Be it lawful I love thee as thou lov’st those

Whom thine eyes woo as mine impórtune 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.

• Artist:William Shakespeare