BECAUSE I know that there is that in me <br />Of which thou shouldst be proud, and not ashamed,-- <br />Because I feel one made thy choice should be <br />Not even by fools and slanderers rashly blamed,-- <br />Because I fear, howe'er thy soul may strive <br />Against the weakness of that inward pain, <br />The falsehoods which my enemies contrive <br />Not always seek to wound thine ear in vain,-- <br />Therefore I sometimes weep, when I should smile, <br />At all the vain frivolity and sin <br />Which those who know me not (yet me revile)-- <br />My would-be judges--cast my actions in; <br />But else their malice hath nor sting nor smart-- <br />For I appeal from them, Beloved, to thine own heart!<br /><br />Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-v-12/
