Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day
能否把你比作夏日璀璨
Sonnet 18, often alternately titled Shall I compare thee to a summer's day , is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. In the sonnet, the speaker compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. He also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem. “Sonnet 18” is written in the typical Shakespearean sonnet form, having fourteen lines of iambic pentameter ending in a rhymed couplet. Detailed exegeses have revealed several double meanings within the poem, giving it a greater depth of interpretation.
《十四行诗18》又名《能否把你比作夏日璀璨》，是英国剧作家、诗人威廉·莎士比亚154首十四行诗中最为人称道的诗篇之一。诗中，叙述者将爱人比作夏天，甚至认为爱人比夏天还要美好。他还表示，爱人会随着这首诗的流传永远活在人间。《十四行诗18》属于典型的莎士比亚十四行诗格式，总共14行，韵律格式为抑扬格五音步，最后两行为双韵体。后世对该诗详尽的注解，挖掘了诗中若干隐含意义，启发了更多的解读和思考。
The poem starts with a flattering question to the beloved — “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day？” The beloved is both “more lovely and more temperate” than a summer's day. The speaker lists some negative things about summer: it is short — “summer's lease hath all too short a date” — and sometimes the sun is too hot — “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines.” However, the beloved has beauty that will last forever, unlike the fleeting beauty of a summer's day. By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever. “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” The lover's beauty will live on through the poem, which will last as long as it can be read.
该诗开头便以曲尽奉承之意询问爱人“我能否把你比作夏日璀璨”。然而爱人却是比夏日“更可爱温存”。接着叙述者列举夏日的不好方面，比如“夏天匆匆离去毫不停留”，时光太短；比如“苍天明眸有时过于灼热”，夏日有时太热。但是，爱人的美丽却可以永驻人间，绝非夏日那般韶光易逝。将爱人的美写进诗句里，便永远封存了这份美丽。“只要人能呼吸、眼不盲，这诗和你将千秋流芳。”只要这首诗有人读，它就是永恒，如此，诗中讴歌的爱人的美也得以永生。
