莎士比亞十四行情詩精選（十七）

　　But wherefore do not you a mightier way.

Make war upon this bloody tyrant time,

And fortify yourself in your decay

With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?

Now stand you on the top of happy hours,

And many maiden gardens yet unset

With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers,

Much liker than your painted counterfeit.

So should the lines of life that life repair

Which this time's pencil or my pupil pen

Neither in inward worth nor outward fair

Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.

To give away yourself keeps yourself still,

And you must live,drawn by your own sweet skill.

翻譯：
　　但為什麼你不用更有效的方法

去反抗這嗜血的時間魔王，

或用更幸福的手段來抵抗衰朽，

卻反借重我這不育的詩行？

如今你置身於桃花運的頂峯之上，

有許多處女園等待着你栽插紅芳，

殷切地盼望着你植下活花朵朵，

花兒比你的畫像更顯出你的真相。

所以生命只能靠生命線維繫，

不論是我的塗鴉還是當代的畫匠

都不能使你活在人們心房，

讓你內在和外在的美色昭彰。

放棄你自己將反使你自己長在，

想生存就得靠把傳宗妙技發揚。

　　推薦理由：這首是莎士比亞最出名的18首十四行情詩中的Sonnet 16，快來看看吧。