Shakespeare - Sonnet 18 This sonnet is by far one of the most interesting poems in the book. Of Shakespeare's sonnets in the text, this is one of the most moving lyric poems that I have ever read. There is great use of imagery within the sonnet. This is not to say that the rest of the poems in the book were not good, but this to me was the best, most interesting, and most beautiful of them. It is mainly due to the simplicity and loveliness of the poem抯 praise of the beloved woman that it has guaranteed its place in my mind, and heart.The speaker of the poem opens with a question that is addressed to the beloved, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" This question is comparing her to the summer time of the year. It is during this time when the flowers are blooming, trees are full of leaves, the weather is warm, and it is generally thought of as an enjoyable time during the year. The following eleven lines in the poem are also dedicated to similar comparisons between the beloved and summer days. In lines 2 and 3, the speaker explains what mainly separates the young woman from the summer's day: she is "more lovely and more temperate." (Line 2) Summer's days tend toward extremes: they are sometimes shaken by "rough winds" (line3) which happens and is not always as welcoming as the woman. However in line 4, the speaker gives the feeling again that the summer months are often to short by saying, "And summer抯 lease hath too short a date." In the summer days, the sun, "the eye of heaven" (line 5), often shines "too hot," or too dim, "his gold complexion dimmed" (line 6), that is there are many hot days during the summer but soon the sun begins to set earlier at night because autumn is approaching. Summer is moving along too quickly for the speaker, its time here needs to be longer, and it also means that the chilling of autumn is coming upon us because the flowers will soon be withering, as "every fair from fair sometime declines." (Line 7) The final portion of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in various respects. Her beauty will be one that lasts forever, "Thy eternal summer shall not fade." (Line 9), and never end or die. In the couplet at the bottom, the speaker explains how that the beloved's beauty will accomplish this everlasting life unlike a summer. And it is because her beauty is kept alive in this poem, which will last forever. It will live "as long as men can breathe or eyes can see." (Line 13)On the surface, the poem is on the surface simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved woman and perhaps summer to the speaker is sometimes too unpleasant with the extremes of windiness and heat that go along with it. However, the beloved in the poem is always mild and temperate by her nature and nothing at all like the summer. It is incidentally brought to life as being described as the "eye of heaven" with its "gold complexion". The imagery throughout the sonnet is simple and attainable to the reader, which is a key factor in understanding the poem. Then the speaker begins to describe the summer again with the "darling buds of May" giving way to the " summer抯 lease", springtime moving into the warmth of the summer. The speaker then starts to promise to talk about this beloved, that is so great and awing that she is to live forever in this sonnet. The beloved is so great that the speaker will even go as far as to say that, "So long as men breathe, or eyes can see," the woman will live. The language is almost too simple when comparing it to the rest of Shakespeare抯 sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or verse, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause, almost every line ends with some punctuation that effects a pause. But it is this that makes Sonnet18 stand out for the rest in the book. It is much more attainable to understand and it allows for the reader to fully understand how great this beloved truly is because she may live forever in it. An important theme of the sonnet, as it is an important theme throughout much of the poetry in general, is the power of the speaker's poem to defy time and last forever. And so by doing this it is then carrying the beauty of the beloved down to future generations and eventually for al of eternity. The beloved's "eternal summer" shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see," (line 13) the speaker writes in the couplet, "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."(Line 14) With this the speaker is able to accomplish what many have done in poetry and that is to give the gift of an eternal life to someone that they believe is special and outshines everyone else around them. Perhaps it is because of a physical beauty that the speaker see, but I believe that it is more because of the internal beauty as seen in line 2, "Thou art more lovely and more temperate", that the beloved is deserving to live on forever.
参考资料：Sonnet 18 Essay
美人当青春，婉丽自销魂。
焉知东风恶，良辰讵待人？
朝日何皋皋，暮色何昏昏。
众芳俱摇落，天意倩谁询？
我有丹青笔，腾挪似有神。
为君驻颜色，风霜不可侵。
丹青亦难久，罔若诗与琴？
延年歌一曲，万古扬清芬。
白话译本：
我能否将你比作夏天？
你比夏天更美丽温婉。
狂风将五月的蓓蕾凋残，
夏日的勾留何其短暂。
休恋那丽日当空，
转眼会云雾迷蒙。
休叹那百花飘零，
催折于无常的天命。
唯有你永恒的夏日常新，
你的美貌亦毫发无损。
死神也无缘将你幽禁，
你在我永恒的诗中长存。
只要世间尚有人吟诵我的诗篇，
这诗就将不朽，永葆你的芳颜。
梁宗岱译：
我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？
你不独比它可爱也比它温婉：
狂风把五月宠爱的嫩蕊作践，
夏天出赁的期限又未免太短：
天上的眼睛有时照得太酷烈，
它那炳耀的金颜又常遭掩蔽：
被机缘或无常的天道所摧折，
没有芳艳不终于雕残或销毁。
但是你的长夏永远不会雕落，
也不会损失你这皎洁的红芳，
或死神夸口你在他影里漂泊，
当你在不朽的诗里与时同长。
只要一天有人类，或人有眼睛，
这诗将长存，并且赐给你生命。
戴镏铃译：
我怎样能把你比做夏天？
你比它更可爱也更温和：
五月的娇蕾有暴风震颠，
夏季的寿命很短就度过。
有时候当空照耀着烈日，
又往往它的光彩转阴淡；
凡是美艳终把美艳消失，
遭受命运和时序的摧残。
你永恒的夏季永不凋零，
而且长把你的美艳保存；
死神难夸你踏它的幽影，
只因永恒的诗与你同春。
天地间能有人鉴赏文采，
这诗就流传就教你永在。
海外逸士译：
我欲將君比夏晝﹐君更嬌艷更媚柔。
疾風吹搖五月蕾﹐夏日苦短行矣休。
時或驕陽何炎炎﹐常見金烏遭遮掩。
美人之美易消逝﹐偶失天奪亦可憐。
君之長夏永不逝﹐君之花容能久駐。
閻羅終未拘君去﹐不朽君因不朽句。
世間有人人能看﹐我詩長存君并存。
译者不详（台湾网页上摘抄）：
夏日怎能與妳譬喻比擬
妳的可愛溫和夏日難及
五月花蕾惡風吹襲落地
夏日租約倏忽轉瞬到期
有時天眼高灼炎炎難耐
更見烏雲常蔽金色面容
古今紅顏難逃紅顏色衰
命運無常季候欺凌作弄
妳的永恆夏日卻將長存
美貌紅顏必也永世不減
死神難誇妳為地府美人
因妳芳名已成不朽詩篇
除非人世已經滅絕無生
此詩必將永傳與汝永恆
陳黎/張芬齡翻譯的版本：
我該把你比擬做夏天嗎？
你比夏天更可愛，更溫婉：
狂風會把五月的嬌蕊吹落，
夏天出租的期限又太短暫：
有時天上的眼睛照得太熱，
他金色的面容常常變陰暗；
一切美的事物總不免凋敗，
被機緣或自然的代謝摧殘：
但你永恆的夏天不會褪色，
不會失去你所擁有的美善，
死神也不能誇說你在他陰影裡徘徊，
當你在永恆的詩行裡與時間同久長：
只要人們能呼吸或眼睛看得清，
此詩將永存，並且賜給你生命。
To My Love
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
参考资料：Sonnet 18 Essay
美人当青春，婉丽自销魂。
焉知东风恶，良辰讵待人？
朝日何皋皋，暮色何昏昏。
众芳俱摇落，天意倩谁询？
我有丹青笔，腾挪似有神。
为君驻颜色，风霜不可侵。
丹青亦难久，罔若诗与琴？
延年歌一曲，万古扬清芬。
白话译本：
我能否将你比作夏天？
你比夏天更美丽温婉。
狂风将五月的蓓蕾凋残，
夏日的勾留何其短暂。
休恋那丽日当空，
转眼会云雾迷蒙。
休叹那百花飘零，
催折于无常的天命。
唯有你永恒的夏日常新，
你的美貌亦毫发无损。
死神也无缘将你幽禁，
你在我永恒的诗中长存。
只要世间尚有人吟诵我的诗篇，
这诗就将不朽，永葆你的芳颜。
梁宗岱译：
我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？
你不独比它可爱也比它温婉：
狂风把五月宠爱的嫩蕊作践，
夏天出赁的期限又未免太短：
天上的眼睛有时照得太酷烈，
它那炳耀的金颜又常遭掩蔽：
被机缘或无常的天道所摧折，
没有芳艳不终于雕残或销毁。
但是你的长夏永远不会雕落，
也不会损失你这皎洁的红芳，
或死神夸口你在他影里漂泊，
当你在不朽的诗里与时同长。
只要一天有人类，或人有眼睛，
这诗将长存，并且赐给你生命。
戴镏铃译：
我怎样能把你比做夏天？
你比它更可爱也更温和：
五月的娇蕾有暴风震颠，
夏季的寿命很短就度过。
有时候当空照耀着烈日，
又往往它的光彩转阴淡；
凡是美艳终把美艳消失，
遭受命运和时序的摧残。
你永恒的夏季永不凋零，
而且长把你的美艳保存；
死神难夸你踏它的幽影，
只因永恒的诗与你同春。
天地间能有人鉴赏文采，
这诗就流传就教你永在。
海外逸士译：
我欲將君比夏晝﹐君更嬌艷更媚柔。
疾風吹搖五月蕾﹐夏日苦短行矣休。
時或驕陽何炎炎﹐常見金烏遭遮掩。
美人之美易消逝﹐偶失天奪亦可憐。
君之長夏永不逝﹐君之花容能久駐。
閻羅終未拘君去﹐不朽君因不朽句。
世間有人人能看﹐我詩長存君并存。
译者不详（台湾网页上摘抄）：
夏日怎能與妳譬喻比擬
妳的可愛溫和夏日難及
五月花蕾惡風吹襲落地
夏日租約倏忽轉瞬到期
有時天眼高灼炎炎難耐
更見烏雲常蔽金色面容
古今紅顏難逃紅顏色衰
命運無常季候欺凌作弄
妳的永恆夏日卻將長存
美貌紅顏必也永世不減
死神難誇妳為地府美人
因妳芳名已成不朽詩篇
除非人世已經滅絕無生
此詩必將永傳與汝永恆
陳黎/張芬齡翻譯的版本：
我該把你比擬做夏天嗎？
你比夏天更可愛，更溫婉：
狂風會把五月的嬌蕊吹落，
夏天出租的期限又太短暫：
有時天上的眼睛照得太熱，
他金色的面容常常變陰暗；
一切美的事物總不免凋敗，
被機緣或自然的代謝摧殘：
但你永恆的夏天不會褪色，
不會失去你所擁有的美善，
死神也不能誇說你在他陰影裡徘徊，
當你在永恆的詩行裡與時間同久長：
只要人們能呼吸或眼睛看得清，
此詩將永存，並且賜給你生命。
To My Love
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.