Farewell, Love

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503~1542)

Farwell, Love, and all thy laws forever,
Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more;
Senec and Plato call me from thy lore,
To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavor,
In blind error then I did persever,
Thy sharp repulse, that prickth aye so sore,
Hath taought me to set in trifles no store
And’ scape forth since liberty is lever
Therefore farewell, go trouble younger hearts,
And in me claim no more authority
With idle youth go use thy property,
And therein spend thy many brittle darts,
For hitherto though I have lost all my time,
Me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb.

·注释：

1.thy: your “Thy” and “thine” are both old uses. Thy are the possessive forms of “thou” and “thee”. The reflexive form of “thy” is “thyself”.

2.thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more: 此处“baited hooks” 是比喻，诗人把爱情比作放上诱饵的钩，人一量上钩便被缠住难以脱身（tangle）.

3.Senec and plato call me from thy lore, To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavor: I.e. “senec” (Seneca, the Roman moral philosopher and tragedian) and plato call me to educate my mind to perfect well-being (wealth) 塞尼卡和柏拉图教我教育自己的心灵，使自己的身心臻于完美

4.I blind…lever: when I did preserver in blind error, thy sharp repuls, that pricketh aye so sore, hath taugnt me to set no store in trifles and escape forth since liberty is lever: 当我盲目地一错再错，你尖刻的拒绝，总是深深地刺痛我的心教训我不要再为这无聊的琐碎小事伤心，而是从中挣脱出来，因为更可贵。Persever: persevere; pricketh: pricks; aye: always (old use); lever: more pleasing

5.And therein spend thy many brittle darts: 让你那尖刻的伤害在年轻人那里显身手吧

6.Me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb: I care no longer to climb rotten boughs. Me lusteth: I care to climb rotten boughs: 攀登已腐烂的树枝，此处诗人把追求爱情比喻为攀登已腐烂的树枝，含义是：它浪费时间，且徒劳无功。

Sonnet 75

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away;
Agayne I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tyde, and made my paynes his pray.
“Vayne man,”, said she, “that does in vain assay,”
A mortal thing so to immortalize.
For I my selve shall lyke to this decay,
And eek my name bee wiped out lykewize.”
“Not I”, quod I, “let bader thigs devize,”
To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens wryte your glorious name.
Where whenas death shall all the word subdew,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.

· 注释

1. strand: beach
2. Agayne: again
3. Made my paynes his pray: 使我的心血和努力白费。Pray: prey tyde: tide
4. That doest in vaine assay: That does attempt in vain. 作徒劳无功的努力。 Doest=does assay: attempt
5. For my selve shal lyke to this decay: 因为我自己也要经历这一腐朽，败落的过程。My selve: myself lyke: like
6. eek: also
7. likewise: likewise 同样的
8. quod: quoth=said
9. devise: contrive 图谋
10. my verse your virtues rare shall eternize = my verse shall eternize your rare virtues: 我的诗歌将使你罕见的美德永恒
11. wryte: write
12. death shall all the world subsew = death shall subdew all the world. Subdew: subdue 使屈服，征服