SONNET #1
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decrease
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light's 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 wold's fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring
Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
And tender churl mak'st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be --
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
第1-14首，第16、17首，主旨都是劝一位美貌的青年朋友娶妻生子。
1、increse:reproduction,procretion；繁殖，繁衍。
2、That:So that.rose:有两解：(1)prime；(2)example；莎士比亚常用rose比喻“青春”或“典范”。
3、But as:And that though.the riper:the riper rose.by time:in time,in due course.decease:die。
4、His...his:Its...its,i.e. of the riper rose；莎士比亚时仍常用 his 作中性第三人称单数代词的所有格。tender:young,娇嫩的。bear:carry on；注意此字含双关义，使人既联想到baer fruit，双联想到bear a child。
5、thou...thine:you...your；伊丽莎白时代，第二人称单数代词常用thou（主），其变格形式为thee（宾），thy（所有），thine(所有，用于以元音或h开始的词前；物主），对亲爱都或熟悉的朋友常以此相呼。contracted:betrothed.此行意为：而你却与自己明媚的眼睛定了新，比喻抱独身。
6、Feed'st:Feed；与thou 搭配的第二人称单数动词词尾形式为-est,-st或-t；又见第9行art=are,tx 11tf buriest=bury,第12行mak'st=make.light's flame:眼中的光焰；当时人们认为眼睛同太阳一样能射出光焰，参见33.2（第33首第2行）。self-substantial fuel:fuel of you own substance,（象蜡烛一样）以自身作燃料。
7、Making:Causing.lies:exists.
8、Thyself:Yourself。
9、that:who。
10、only:chief,peerless.gaudy:bright。
11、bud:喻“自身”，与第2行驶rose的比喻连贯。thy content:what you contain，指你做父亲的可能性；content重音在第二个音节。
12、tender churl:gentle miser；以此称呼对方，意在表现其矛盾的两个方面，这在修辞上叫oxymoron.in niggarding:by hoarding,sparing；因吝啬，节俭。
13、or else this glutton be:otherwise you would be such a glutton as。
14、To eat the world's due:To devour what is due to the world.by the grave and thee:by your dying without a child。
日期: 2006年11月05 周日
编辑: 2007年4月14 周六