Ask if I love thee? Oh, smiles cannot tell <br />Plainer what tears are now showing too well. <br />Had I not loved thee, my sky had been clear: <br />Had I not loved thee, I had not been here, <br />Weeping by thee. <br /> <br />Ask if I love thee? How else could I borrow <br />Pride from man's slander, and strength from my sorrow? <br />Laugh when they sneer at the fanatic's bride, <br />Knowing no bliss, save to toil and abide <br />Weeping by thee. <br /> <br /> <br />Andernach on the Rhine, <br />August 1851.<br /><br />Charles Kingsley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/margaret-to-dolcino/
