Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Sonnet 1 A lyric poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes. As a form the Sonnet developed in Italy in the 13th century and was introduced into England by Thomas Wyatt ( 托马斯 · 怀亚特 ) and Ear Surrey ( 厄尔 · 瑟瑞 ). In the 14th century, Petrarch ( 彼特拉 克 ) raised it to its greatest Italian perfection.

Sonnet 2 Sonnet can be classified into three types: 1. Italian Petrarchan The Italian form is distinguished by its division into the octave ( 意大利八行体， consists of 8 lines rhyming abbaabba, presents a narrative, states a proposition or raises a question) and the sestet ( 意大利六行体， consists of 6 lines rhyming cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce, drives home (make it understand) the narrative by making an abstract comment, applied the proposition, or solves the problem) 2. English or Shakespearean 3. Spenserian sonnets

Shakespeare’s Sonnets Shakespearean sonnet is also called the English sonnet, with three quatrains (every stanza has four lines, the rhyme scheme is abab or abba) and a two-line unit called a couplet ( 对子 ). The typical rhyme scheme for the English Sonnet is as follows: first stanza (quatrain): abab; second stanza (quatrain): cdcd; third stanza (quatrain): efef; Couplet: gg.

Spenserian Sonnet The Spenserian Sonnet combines the former two forms, using three quatrains and a couplet but having linking rhymes among the quatrains, thus abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Sonnet 18 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： Quatrain 1: abab Shall I compare thee (you) to a summer's day? Thou (you) art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath (has) 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 sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: 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。 Quatrain 2: cdcd

But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow‘st (you possess. st: didst, 接在动词后，构成陈述语气第 二人称单数 ), Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, 但是你的长夏永远不会雕落， 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。 Quatrain 3: efef

Couplet: gg 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。