sonnet 18,29

这种诗行也叫做英国式十四行诗。它由英国诗人怀特（Sir Thomas Wyatt, 1503-1542）从意大利引入（他的诗歌的韵脚大多为abba abba cddc ee），由萨雷（Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 约1517-1547）改造（韵脚为abab cdcd efef gg），为莎士比亚在十四行诗所使用。也正是由于这首诗的典型性和代表性，它出现在了中国关于英语诗歌的大部分书籍里。为了更好地探讨诗歌的赏评，现就本诗先作一个简要的赏析。

这首诗是莎士比亚献给一位“黑肤女性”（the dark lady）的（也有人认为，第1至126首十四行诗都是献给一位贵族男士的），也是公认的名篇。全诗的基本节律是五音步抑扬格，包括三个四行组（quatrain）和一个两行组(couplet)。韵脚为abab cdcd efef gg。原文和韵律标注如下（“∨” 为弱音，“— ”为强音）：

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.

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梁宗岱译文：

我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？你不独比它可爱也比它温婉：狂风把五月宠爱的娇蕊作践，

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，

没有芳艳不终于凋残或销毁。

但是你的长夏永远不会凋落，

也不会损失你这娇艳的红芳，

或死神夸口你在它影里漂泊，

当你在不朽的诗里与诗同长。

只要一天有人类，或人有眼睛，

这诗将长存，并且赐给你生命。

梁实秋译文：

我可能把你和夏天相比拟？

你比夏天更可爱更温和：

狂风会把五月的花苞吹落地

夏天也嫌太短促，匆匆而过。

有时太阳照得太热，

常常又遮暗他的金色的脸；

美的事物总不免要凋落，

偶然的，或是随自然变化而流转。

但是你的永恒之夏不会褪色，

你不会失去你的俊美的仪容；

死神不能夸说你在它的阴影里面走着，

如果你在这不朽的诗句里获得了永生；

只要人们能呼吸，眼睛能看东西，

此诗就会不朽，使你永久生存下去。

屠岸译文：

能不能让我来把你比作夏日？

你可是更加可爱，更加温婉；

狂风会吹落五月里开的好花儿。

夏季租出的日子又未免太短暂：

有时候苍天的巨眼照得太灼热，

他那金彩的脸色也会被遮暗；

每一种美呀，总会离开美而凋落，

被时机或者自然的代谢所摧残。

但是你永久的夏天决不会凋枯，

你永远不会失去你美的形相；

死神夸不着你在他影子里踯躅，

你将在不朽的诗中与时间同长；

只要人类在呼吸，眼睛看得见，

我这诗就活着，使你生命绵延。

孙大雨译文；

我可要将你比作初夏的清晖？

你却焕耀得更可爱，也更温婉；

狂风震撼五月天眷宠的嫩蕊，

孟夏的良时便会变得太短暂。

晴空里赤日有时光照得过亮，

它那赫奕的金容会转成阴晦；

被机运或被造化变迁所跌宕，

任何美妙的形象会显得不美。

但你这丰华的永夏不会衰颓，

你不会丧失你这无比的修好；

死亡不会夸，你在它影下低回，

有这些诗行将你的韶光永葆：

只要人们还活着，眼睛还能看，

这首诗便能栩栩赋与你霞丹。

丰华瞻译文：

可否把你比作明媚的夏天？

你比夏天更可爱、更温婉：

夏日会起狂风，把五月的苞蕾摧残；

好景能有几时，转眼花事阑珊。

有时天神的眼睛，照地炎热逼人；

他那金黄色的颜面也常蒙上层云。

纵然花卉鲜妍，终于落入泥尘，

不堪摧折凋残，无奈时序转运。

但是你的长夏，永远不会消亡；

你的神采风韵，必将恒久如常。

死神不敢夸说：你在他的阴影中徜徉；

因为我把你写入诗句，使你的丰姿永放光芒。

只要人们能呼吸，眼睛能发亮光，

这首诗便能永存，使你的生命万古辉煌。

顾子欣译文：

我不知能否将你比作夏天？

你比夏天更温和也更可爱。

狂风有时将五月的娇蕾摧残，

而夏天的尽期很快就会到来。

有时苍天的巨眼照得太热，

有时他金色的脸庞又黯淡无光；

每一种美都会凋零，或夭折，

或随着时叙代谢自然衰亡。

但你的夏天永远不会消陨，

永远不会丧失你赋有的美貌，

死亡也不能夸耀你徘徊其影，

你将我诗中与时间共存不老；

只要还有人呼吸，眼睛能看见，

我的诗就活着，使你生命绵延。

黄杲昕译文：

我可能够拿你同夏天作比较？

但是夏天不像你温和又亲切：

狂风会让五月的娇蕾抖又摇，

而夏天又是过于短促的季节，

有时候天上那眼睛照得太热，

它金色的面庞又常黯淡无光，

任哪种美色都难以永葆美色——

意外或自然变化剥去其盛装。

可是你永恒的夏天不会凋零，

不会丧失你所拥有的那种美——

一旦你在不朽的诗中获永生，

死神难吹嘘你在它影中徘徊：

只要世上有看书的人在呼吸，

这诗就存活并把生命给予你。

辜正坤译文：

或许我可用夏日将你作比方，

但你比夏日更可爱也更温良。

夏风狂作常会摧落五月的娇蕊，

夏季的期限也未免还不太长。

有时候天眼如炬人间酷热难当，

但转瞬又金面如晦常惹云遮雾障。

每一种美都终究会凋残零落，

或见弃于机缘，或受挫于天道无常。

然而你永恒的夏季却不会终止，

你优美的形象也永远不会消亡，

死神难夸口说你在它罗网中游荡，

只因你借我的诗行便可长寿无疆。

只要人口能呼吸，人眼看得清，

我这诗就长存，使你万世流芳

一八

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。

二九

当我受尽命运和人们的白眼，

暗暗地哀悼自己的身世飘零，

徒用呼吁去干扰聋瞆的昊天，

顾盼着身影，诅咒自己的生辰，

愿我和另一个一样富于希望，

面貌相似，又和他一样广交游，

希求这人的渊博，那人的内行，

最赏心的乐事觉得最不对头；

可是，当我正要这样看轻自己，

忽然想起了你，于是我的精神，

便像云雀破晓从阴霾的大地

振翮上升，高唱着圣歌在天门：

一想起你的爱使我那么富有，

和帝王换位我也不屑于屈就。

1.Critical Commentaries

Sonnet 18

One of the best known of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 18 is memorable for the skillful and varied presentation of subject matter, in which the poet’s feelings reach a level of rapture unseen in the previous sonnets. The poet here abandons his quest for the youth to have a child, and instead glories in the youth’s beauty.

Initially, the poet poses a question—”Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”—and then reflects on it, remarking that the youth’s beauty far surpasses summer’s delights. The imagery is the very essence of simplicity: “wind” and “buds.” In the fourth line, legal terminology—”summer’s lease”—is introduced in contrast to the commonplace images in the first three lines. Note also the poet’s use of extremes in the phrases “more lovely,” “all too short,” and “too hot”; these phrases emphasize the young man’s beauty.

Although lines 9 through 12 are marked by a more expansive tone and deeper

feeling, the poet returns to the simplicity of the opening images. As one expects in Shakespeare’s sonnets, the proposition that the poet sets up in the first eight lines—that all nature is subject to imperfection—is now contrasted in these next four lines beginning with “But.” Although beauty naturally declines at some point—”And every fair from fair sometime declines”—the youth’s beauty will not; his unchanging appearance is atypical of nature’s steady progression. Even death is impotent against the youth’s beauty. Note the ambiguity in the phrase “eternal lines”: Are these “lines” the poet’s verses or the youth’s hoped-for children? Or are they simply wrinkles meant to represent the process of aging? Whatever the answer, the poet is jubilant in this sonnet because nothing threatens the young man’s beautiful appearance.

Then follows the concluding couplet: “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” The poet is describing not what the youth is but what he will be ages hence, as captured in the poet’s eternal verse—or again, in a hoped-for child. Whatever one may feel about the sentiment expressed in the sonnet and especially in these last two lines, one cannot help but notice an abrupt change in the poet’s own estimate of his poetic writing. Following the poet’s disparaging reference to his “pupil pen” and “barren rhyme” in Sonnet 16, it comes as a surprise in Sonnet 18 to find him boasting that his poetry will be eternal.

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2.Sonnet 18

Summary

The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: \"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?\" The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison. In line 2, the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summer's day: he is \"more lovely and more temperate.\" Summer's days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by \"rough winds\"; in them, the sun (\"the eye of heaven\") often shines \"too hot,\" or too dim. And summer is fleeting: its date is too short, and it leads to the withering of autumn, as \"every fair from fair sometime declines.\" The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (\"Thy eternal summer shall not fade...\") and never die. In the couplet, the speaker explains how the beloved's beauty will accomplish this feat, and not perish because it is preserved in the poem, which will last forever; it will live \"as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.\"

Commentary

This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare's sonnets; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare's works, only lines such as \"To be or not to be\" and \"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?\" are better-known. This is not to say that it is at all the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets; but the simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place.

On the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved; summer tends to unpleasant extremes of windiness and heat, but the beloved is always mild and temperate. Summer is incidentally personified as the \"eye of heaven\" with its \"gold complexion\"; the imagery throughout is simple and unaffected, with the \"darling buds of May\" giving way to the \"eternal summer\which the speaker promises the beloved. The language, too, is comparatively unadorned for the sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or assonance, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause--almost every line ends with some punctuation, which effects a pause.

Sonnet 18 is the first poem in the sonnets not to explicitly encourage the young man to have children. The \"procreation\" sequence of the first 17 sonnets ended with the speaker's realization that the young man might not need children to preserve his beauty; he could also live, the speaker writes at the end of Sonnet 17, \"in my rhyme.\" Sonnet 18, then, is the first \"rhyme\"--the speaker's first attempt to preserve the young man's beauty for all time. An important theme of the sonnet (as it is an important theme throughout much of the sequence) is the power of the speaker's poem to defy time and last forever, carrying the beauty of the beloved down to future generations. 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,\" the speaker writes in the couplet, \"So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.\"