- a summer’s day: In England, summer is not hot but comfortably warm. It is the most pleasant season of the year.
-temperate: gentle, soft, mild
Paraphrase: How can I compare you to a summer’s day since you are lovelier and gentler than it?
a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of may,
a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
b
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
e
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
f
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
e
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.
f
So long as man can breathe or eyes can see,
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 天上的眼睛有时照得太酷烈，
And often is his gold complexion dimmed, 它那炳耀的金颜又常遭掩蔽：
And every fair from fair sometime declines, 被机缘或无常的天道所摧折，
• So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, • So long live this, and this gives life to thee.
– this: this poem
As long as there is man living in this world, as long as man’s eyes can see things, this poem will be eternal and it will also make you immortal.
And sum mer’s lease hath all too short a date. b
Iambus（抑扬格） Iambic Foot（抑扬音步）
5-foot Iambus (Iambic Pentametre) （五步抑扬格）
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
c
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
d
And every fair from fair sometime declines ,
c
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d. d
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
in the couplet..
Meter:
Shall I compare thee to a sum mer’s day ?
a
Thou art more love ly and more tem perate. b Rough winds do shake the dar ling buds of may, a
• And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
rough: violent; terrible darling: lovely; dear; charming lease: Here it is figuratively used, meaning “lifetime”. hath: old use for “has” date: period of time
Shakespearian Sonnet
• Also known as the English Sonnet, consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet.
• The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.
• A theme is developed & elaborated in the quatrains, & a concluding thought is presented
Modern English v.s. Middle English
• you • You (object form) • your • yours
• thine • thou • Thee • Thy
• Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, 或死神夸口你在他影里漂泊，
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, 当你在不朽的诗里与时同长。
g
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
g
Sonnet 18
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.
Types of Sonnet
• There are three dominant types of sonnet, all named after their founders or perfecters(完善者): Petrarchan sonnet, Spenserian sonnet and Shakespearean sonnet.
In fact, the violent winds do destroy the lovely buds of May, and summer lasts for only a very short period of time.
• But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed 没有芳艳不终于雕残或销毁。
But thy eternal summer shall not fade, 但是你的长夏永远不会雕落，
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, 也不会损失你这皎洁的红芳，
• Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
• Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
• When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st
eternal summer: (metaphor) immortal youthfulness Death: (personification) the destroyer of life eternal lines: immortal lines of poetry such as the lines in this poem to time thou gro’st: you’ll grow together with time, just as time that lasts forever
Sonnet 18 (1609)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？ Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 你不独比它可爱也比它温婉： Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 狂风把五月宠爱的嫩蕊作践， And summer's lease hath all too short a date: 夏天出赁的期限又未免太短：
Sonnet 18
Definition of Sonnet
• A sonnet is a lyric invariably of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted tose: If you are written in an eternal poem, you will become part of time, you will always be young or your youthfulness will be everlasting (will never disappear), and you will never lose your beauty, and even Death shall not boast that you are under his control.
Eluciddation ( 承c )
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d. d