Sonnet 18(英文赏析)

Sonnet18ByWilliamShakespeareShallIcomparetheetoasummer’sday?Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate:RoughwindsdoshakethedarlingbudsofMay,Andsummer’sleasehathalltooshortadate:SometimestoohottheeyeofheavenshinesAndoftenishisgoldcomplexiondimed;Andeveryfairformfairsometimesdeclines,Bychanceornature’schangingcourseuntrimmed;Butthyeternalsummershallnotfade,Norlosepossessionofthatfairthouow’st;Norshalldeathbragthouwander’stinhisshade.Whenineternallinestotimethougrow’st:Solongasmencanbreathe,oreyescansee,Solonglivesthis,andthisgiveslifetothee.十四行诗（其十八）威廉·莎士比亚我能把你比作夏日吗？尽管你更可爱、更温和；夏日的狂风可能会摧残五月的花儿，季节的限制又减少了可拥有的日光；天空的巨眼有时过于灼热，常使自身的辉煌无故湮没；每一种美都会消逝，不管愿意或是无奈；然而你这盛夏将永存不朽，连你所有的美都不会褪去；死神不忍逼近，生命只会长存；只要人类能呼吸，能看见；我的诗就会存在，而你的生命也会延续。Sonnet18isabsolutelyoneofthemostfamoussonnetsofShakespeare.AlmosteveryEnglishlearnercanrecitesomelinesofiteitherforappreciationorpleasureasboththethematicfeatureandartisticfeatureshinebrightlyandattractively.Inthefollowing,Iwillillustratemyunderstandingofthissonnetinthesetwoaspects.Firstly,somethingaboutthesonnet’sthematicfeaure.Thefirsttwolines,intheformofaquestionandanassertivestatement,showthepoet’sideaofcomparinghisbelovedwithasummer’sdayandalsopointoutthatthebelovedpersonismorebeautifulandlessextremethansummer.Itisunderstandablethatsummerischosenasthecomparisontargetbecauseitislovelyandpleasant.Whilethenextsixlinesdescribethelesspleasantaspectsofsummer:thetoostongwind,theextremehotweatheraswellastheeasydisappearanceofallbeauties.Theninthlinetakesupthecomparisonwithsummeragain:summerhasbynowbecomethesummeroflife.Thecomparisonturnsintoacontrastbyreferringbacktotheseventh.Thepoet'sassurancebecomesevenfirmerinlineselevenandtwelve,whichcontainapromisethatdeathwillbeconqueredthatthebelovedone’sspiritandlifewillsurelybeeternal.Thelasttwolinesfurthuremphasizethepoet’sbeliefthattheeternityofspiritandvirtueofhisbelovedbypointingoutthepoem’seternalfunctionandexistence.Withthisarrangementofstructureandcontent,thepoetgivesthissonnettwothematicmeanings.Theprimarymeaningissimplyastatementtopraisethebeautyofthebelovedone.Butthemoreimportantanddeeponeisthepoet’sthoughtthatthepowerofthepoemwhichcandefytimeandlastforever.Itsdoublethemesisonedistinguishingfeatureofthesonnet.Secondly,theanalysisofthissonnet’sartisticfeature.Itcontains14lines.Wecaneasilyobservethattheendsofline1andline3havetheendrhyme:/ei/,line2andline4rhymewith/eit/.Andthesefourlinesformaquatrain.Thesameformisusedinthesecondquatrainfromline5toline8,thethirdquatrainfromline9toline12.However，thelasttwolineshavetheirownform,astheyhavetheendrhyme:/i:/Eachlineinthissonnetisiniambicpentameterwhichmeanseachlinehasfivefeet,usuallyanunaccentedsyllablefollowedbyanaccentedsyllable.Forexample,wecandividethefirstlineintofiveindependentfeetas“ShallI/compare/theeto/asum/mer’sday?”withaccentsonshall,com,thee,a,merrespectively.Wecanalsofindsomerepetitionsofthesamewordsinthebeginningofseverallines,suchasthe“And”usedintheline6and7,the“Nor”inline10and11,the“solong”inline13and14.Thealliterationalsoexistsinthissonnet.Bothmakethesonnet’stonemuchmoremelodious.Somefiguresofspeecharealsoinuselikesimileandpersonification.Wecanseethesunisregardedas“theeyeofheaven”whichisasimile.Wecanfindtheword“his”usedtodescribethesunandthedeathwhichgivesthemlifeastheillustrationoftheuseofpersonification.Thismakestheimagesthepoetpointsoutlinkedtoeachotherandvividlyformthewholeimagery.Tomakeageneralconclusionofitsstylisticfeature,thissonnetisatypicalShakespeariansonnetwithfourteenlinesiniambicpentameter,includingthreequatrainsandonecoupletwiththerhymeschemeababcdcdefefgg.Besidesthis,sonnet18isinuseofalliterationandfiguresofspeechwhichaddmorebeautytothetonalityofthepoem.That’sallmyunderstandingofthedistinctivefeaturesofWilliamShakespeare’sSonnet18fromthematicandstylisticperspectives.