十四行诗是源于意大利民间的一种抒情短诗,文艺复兴初期时盛行于整个欧洲,其结构十分严谨,分为上下两部分,上段为八行,下段为六行,每行十一个音节,韵脚排列:abba abba,cdc ded。
莎士比亚的十四行诗的结构却更严谨,他将十四个诗行分为两部分,第一部分为三个四行,第二部分为两行,每行十个音节,韵脚为:abab,cdcd,efef,gg。这样的格式后来被称为“莎士比亚式”或“伊丽莎白式”。对诗人而言,诗的结构越严谨就越难抒情,而莎士比亚的十四行诗却毫不拘谨,自由奔放,正如他的剧作天马行空,其诗歌的语言也富于想象,感情充沛。
今天我们就来欣赏莎士比亚十四行诗中的2首经典诗作:

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:
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:
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
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消毁。
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
但是你的长夏永远不会凋落,
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。
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
只要一天有人类,或人有眼睛,
这诗将长存,并且赐给你生命。

SONNET 2
by: William Shakespeare
WHEN forty winters shall besiege thy brow
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,
Will be a tottered weed of small worth held:
当四十个冬天围攻你的朱颜,
在你美的园地挖下深的战壕,
你青春的华服,那么被人艳羡,
将成褴褛的败絮,谁也不要瞧:
Then being asked where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
To say within thine own deep-sunken eyes
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
那时人若问起你的美在何处,
哪里是你那少壮年华的宝藏,
你说,"在我这双深陷的眼眶里,
是贪婪的羞耻,和无益的颂扬。"
How much more prasie deserved thy beauty's use
If thou couldst answer, 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine.
你的美的用途会更值得赞美,
如果你能够说,"我这宁馨小童
将总结我的账,宽恕我的老迈,"
证实他的美在继承你的血统!
This were to be new made when thou art old
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st cold.
这将使你在衰老的暮年更生,
并使你垂冷的血液感到重温。
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凋落,
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