通過學習莎翁詩歌提高賞析, 英文, 以及詩歌創作能力。逐句解釋。
Sonnet I
FROM fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
中英對照
1
Fairest Creatures《人生美好》
Fair 是好的。 Fairest 當然就是最好的。 Creature 指被造之物, 包括動物和人(不包括植物)，這里主要是人。所以譯為 "人生美好"
FROM fairest creatures we desire increase, 我們急切渴望從最美好的生命開始繁衍
倒裝句。We desire increase from fairest creature. Increase 指繁衍/增加。
That thereby beauty's rose might never die, 恰如美麗的玫瑰的芳香永不衰亡，
玫瑰指女性, 有人說它指女性的繁衍器官。that 意思夜包括了 因果關系。thereby 意思是由此。
But as the riper should by time decease, 然而成熟之后必會變老，
His tender heir might bear his memory: 柔嫩的后代又讓記憶繼續生長：
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, 而你，收緊了你明亮的眼睛，
Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel, 讓光明的火焰喂飽了太多的燃料，
Making a famine where abundance lies, 豐盛依稀的所在卻在制造著饑饉，
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. 你獨自挫敗，過分的美好也將帶來殘暴。
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament 你如今已是世上新穎的裝飾
And only herald to the gaudy spring, 只報來春天絢爛的消息，
Within thine own bud buriest thy content 卻讓生命的芽蕾含唇不齒
And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding. 啊，軟弱的狂野，何至于吝嗇得不敢喘氣。
Pity the world, or else this glutton be, 可憐的世界，除了忍受還是忍受，
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee. 忍氣吞聲得夠了，也就剩下你和你的歸宿。
