莎士比亚的十四行诗第十八首,即Sonnet 18,是一首非常著名的诗。以下是其全文:
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 thou art ever-lasting, and I must say,
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
这首诗的大意是:
我能否把你比作夏季的一天?你比夏天更加可爱和温和;
狂风会吹乱五月的娇花嫩瓣,夏季的租期又未免太短;
有时候天空的巨眼照得太灼热,他金光闪耀的圣颜也会被遮暗;
每一种美都会消逝,或被时机或自然的代谢所摧残;
但你却是永恒的夏天,永远不会失去你美的形象;
死神无法夸耀你在影子里的踟蹰,你将在不朽的诗中与时间同在;
只要人类在呼吸,眼睛看得见,我的诗就活着,使你的生命绵延。
这首诗以其优美的语言和深刻的哲理,被誉为莎士比亚最优美的十四行诗之一,也是广为流传的诗歌之一。