在菲利普·锡德尼和埃德蒙·斯宾塞倡导英国的文艺复兴之后，英国出现了文艺复兴史上一位重要的人物，那就是威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）。我们知道，莎士比亚是一位剧作家和诗人，不管在哪一方面都有杰出的成就，他流传下来的37部戏剧、2首长诗和157首十四行诗都是人们喜欢的作品。莎士比亚的十四行诗内容丰富，好诗斐然，中文翻译也很多，且不乏翻译大家，我在这里就硬着头皮翻译几首吧。
莎士比亚乐于描写人间美好的爱情，如他的Sonnet 130，就从对比中展现了爱情的力量超越理智：
Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
十四行诗 130
我爱人的眼睛不如明亮的太阳；
红珊瑚也比她的唇更加鲜红；
如果雪是白的，她的乳房为何灰暗；
如果头发是丝线，那黑色的丝线长在她头上。
我见过红白玫瑰织成的华锦，
但她的脸颊开不出一朵玫瑰；
香水也会更加迷人
不像她轻轻呼吸时的气息。
我喜欢听她的声音，但我知道
音乐可以产生更加愉悦的声响；
我想我从未见过一名女神；
可当我的爱人向我走来时，
天哪，我的爱人是那么珍贵
这一切荒谬的比喻都不能和她相配。
莎士比亚的十四行诗中，不乏对爱的描写。有时，这种爱从某种意义上超越了爱情的范畴，他将生活中的苦闷和艰涩与爱对举，最终在爱中得到了愉悦和超脱，这些能从下面3首诗中感受到：
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to the summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough wind do shake darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st,
So long as man can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
十四行诗 18
我怎能把你比作夏天？
你比它更加可爱更加温暖：
五月粗糙的风催摇新生的胚芽，
夏日租赁的时光也易逝短暂：
有时太阳照耀的太过灼热
有时它金色的脸却被遮掩；
每一朵美丽都将衰败，
在自然的流转中飘零：
但你永恒的夏季不会凋谢，
不会失去美好的容颜，
不会在死亡的阴影里徘徊，
当你走进永恒的诗歌时空，
只要人们还在呼吸，眼睛明亮，
诗歌就会存在，给你不息的生命。
Sonnet 29
When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
十四行诗 29
当在命运和人们的白眼中受尽屈辱
我独自为这流浪的人生哭泣，
徒劳的呼喊传不到耳聋的上天，
我看着自己，诅咒着命运，
我渴望自己是一个更富希望的人，
与他面容相似，朋友相当，
拥有他的才华，也有他广博的知识，
使我最欢乐的事也不能再满足我；
但当这些想法轻贱我的时候，
我想到了你，这时的我
像一只破晓欢歌的云雀，
从苍茫的大地上唱起天国的赞歌；
因为这甜蜜宝贵的爱情
我不屑与国王交换我的处境。
Sonnet 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon these boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the growing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consum’d with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.
十四行诗 73
你看见我是萧瑟的秋天
黄叶稀疏低垂
秋风摇荡，寒枝冰冷，
颓圮的唱诗班，曾有莺雀婉转。
你看见我是苍凉的日暮
西边落日余晖消散；
黑夜将它逐渐驱赶，
死亡的化身密封了大地边缘。
你看见我是残喘的火焰，
在青春的灰烬里燃烧，
死亡的榻上它终将熄灭，
耗尽那滋养火的源泉。
你感受到的，会使爱更加牢固，
用力去爱吧，在永久离别之前。
另外，还有一首小诗，表达了向往自然的生活状态，颇有中国隐士的风采：
Under the Greenwood Tree
Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird’s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live i’ the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleased with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
树荫之下
树荫之下
谁愿与我高卧，
唱着愉快的曲子
与鸟儿甜美的歌应和，
归来吧，归来吧：
这里的生活
没有仇恨
只有冬季和偶尔糟糕的天气。
谁能放下炽热的身心
乐意居于阳光里，
采集自己的食物，
安于自己所得，
归来吧，归来吧：
这里的生活
没有仇恨
只有冬季和偶尔糟糕的天气。
