SONNET 18 by: William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (a)
我能不能把你跟夏天做比较。
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. (b)
你可是比较秀丽动人与温和
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a)
暴风会吹落五月的小花儿
And summer's lease hath all too short a date. (b)
夏季的租约又未免结束得太快

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c)
有时苍天的巨眼(太阳)照得太灼热
And often is his gold complexion dimmed; (d)
很多时候它那光线也会被遮暗(被云遮暗)
And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c)
每一个美人/每个美丽的东西，总会离开美而凋落
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed: (d)
被时机/意外或者自然的代谢所摧残；被剥夺了

But thy eternal summer shall not fade (e)
但是你永恒的夏天决不会凋枯
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, (f)
你也不会失去你拥有的的美貌
Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade (e)
死神也无法夸口，说你在他的阴影里徘徊
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. (f)
在永恒不朽的诗歌里你将与时间同寿。

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g)
只要人类呼着吸，眼睛看得见
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (g)
我这诗就活着，使你的生命绵延

Translated by
Allan Tan
A member of Pusat Tuition Penjana Ilmu
(我能教育机构)


Meaning of difficult words

Compare to 把什么比做什么。
Thou = you = 前者主格(动词前用)。
Thee = you = 后者宾格(动词后用)。
thy，或thine, 即现代英语的your。
Art = are. 16、17世纪时与thou一起用。
Temperate: 温和Shake：摇落shake off/destroyed 。
Lease 租借期限，此处指夏天的长度。
Hath 与第三人称单数连用，相当于现代英语的has。
Dimmed: 被云遮暗clouded.
Fair form fair:前后fair意义不同。一个代表每人；一个代表美丽的东西
Chance：时运，命运。
declines：衰落
Untrimm’d.：本意为剥去美观的衣服等，此处隐喻夺去美貌等。
Fair thou ow’st: 你又的美貌 beauty you own.
His shade：shadow of death.
wander’st in his shade：在他的阴影里徘徊”。

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. The poet compares his beloved to
A. a summer's day
B. a beautiful jewel
C. a summer flower
D. a summer shower

2. The phrase 'the darling buds of May' means
A. the beautiful flowers of May
B. the beautiful girls born in May
C. the eyes of the beloved
D. the lines of the sonnet

3. What shines like gold?
A. The flowers of May
B. The beloved's hair
C. The beloved's face
D. The sun

4. The phrase 'fair thou ow'st' means
A. the beauty that death takes away
B. the beauty you owe the poet
C. the beauty you see in nature
D. the beauty you possess

5. What does 'this' mean in 'this gives life to thee'?
A. The eternal summer
B. The summer's day
C. The sonnet
D. The sun

6. The line 'summer's lease hath all too short a date' means
A. summer lasts a short time
B. summer starts on a certain date
C. summer is shorter than other seasons
D. all of the above

7. How long will the sonnet 'give life' to the beloved?
A. As long as the beloved is alive
B. As long as mankind survives
C. As long as the sonnet is read
D. As long as the poet is alive

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. How is the beloved more temperate than a summer's day?

2. How is the 'gold complexion' (line 6) dimmed?

3. How do 'fair' (line 7) things decline?

4. How would you feel if this poem were addressed to you?

5. Would you praise someone you love in this way? Explain your answer.

Monsoon History

The air is wet, soaks 空气湿，渗透入
Into mattresses, and curls 床单，冉冉升起
In apparitions of smoke. 不平常的烟 （水蒸气像烟般升起）
Like fat white slugs furled 像肥的鼻涕虫卷起来
Among the timber,在木材中
Or silver fish tunneling 或掘….地道
The damp linen covers 那潮湿的亚麻布封面
Of school books, or walking 学校的书，或走
Quietly like centipedes,得像蜈蚣般安静
The air walking everywhere 空气到处走(潮湿的空气多)
On its hundred feet以它的百腿
Is filled with the glare充满着眩目的光
Of tropical water 热带的水 （下雨了，太阳的光反射在雨点上）

Again we are taken over 我们又一次的被…..接管
By clouds and rolling darkness 由云及隆隆声的黑暗
Small snails appear小蜗牛出现了
Clashing their timid horns撞击着它们胆小的触角
Among the morning glory救在牵牛花当中
Vines

Drinking Milo,喝着MILO
Nyonya and Baba sit at home. Nyonya 和 Baba在家里
This was forty Years ago.这是四十年前的事了
Sarong-wrapped they counted包着围裙他们数着
Silver paper for the dead.金银纸给以过身的人
Portraits of grandfathers组父亲的肖像
Hung always in the parlour.一直都挂在客厅（以前用语）

Reading Tennyson, at six 六点钟傍晚读着坦尼森的书
p.m. in pyjamas 穿着睡衣
Listening to down-pouring 听着雨声
Rain: the air ticks 空气中滴着
With gnats, black spiders fly小昆虫的声音，黑蜘蛛飞
Moths sweep out of our rooms 蛾大模大样地离开我们的房间
Where termites built 白蚁建着它们的窝
Their hills of eggs and queens zoom蚁后的数量急升
In heat. We wash our feet我们把脚洗了
For bed, watch mother uncoil才上床，看妈妈解开
Her snake hair, unbuckle她的卷发，解开
The silver mesh around her waist,她腰间的银网丝
Waiting for father pacing等着在沙滩上踱步的父亲
The sand as fishers pull当渔夫划桨
From the Straits after monsoon.从海峡在季候风之后
The air is still, silent 空气是寂静的
Like sleepers rocked in the pantun,像被朗诵诗歌轻摇入睡的人
Sheltered by Malacca.在马六甲的一间屋檐下
This was forty years ago, 这是四十年前的事了
When nyonya married baba当nyonya 与 baba结婚时

Parlour

In the late nineteenth century, it was often a formal room used only on Sundays or special occasions, and closed during the week. The parlour contained a family's best furnishings, works of art and other display items. The body of a recently deceased member of the household would be laid out in the parlour while funeral preparations were made. In more modest homes, the parlour has largely been replaced by the living room as a result of a twentieth-century effort by architects and builders to strip the parlour of its burial and mourning associations.

spm 2008 poem analysis and spot

There's Been a Death in the Opposite House

There's been a death in the opposite house
对面家有人死（没情感的说明一起死亡事件）
As lately as today.
就在今天（才发现）
I know it by the numb look
我从麻木的脸色看出（家人伤心过度后的麻木脸）
Such houses have always.
这些丧事的家时常有此脸色（屋子被拟人化personified）

The neighbours rustle in and out,
邻居们进进出出 （来吊丧）
The doctor drives away.
医生开车走了(人已死了，还留下来干嘛)
A window opens like a pod,
突然间一扇窗打开
Abrupt, mechanically;
很突然得，很机械的 （上两行为了配这诗歌mood ）







Pod

Somebody flings a mattress out, -
有人把床丢了出来 （原因是怕病菌感染）
The children hurry by;
小孩子看了匆忙走过（当然怕，不过回答时刻说他们怕那有人死过的床）
They wonder if It died on that, -
他们猜想那人死在那床上
I used to when a boy.
想当年，我是个男孩子时也是如此
(作者是女的，此诗歌以男邻居的的角色带出）

Mattress

The minister goes stiffly in
牧师生硬拘谨的走入，
As if the house were his,
好像整间家是他的 ，（整个丧礼他最熟悉）
And he owned all the mourners now,
他控制了所有的送葬者， （大家都得听他的）
And little boys besides;
还有小男孩们

Minister =priest

And then the milliner, and the man
然后女帽制造及贩卖商，和
Of the appalling trade,
那个棺材佬
To take the measure of the house.
量那个棺材的长度/死人的尺寸
There'll be that dark parade
将会有一个葬礼







funeral hat

Of tassels and of coaches soon;
即将出现的缨和大马车
It's easy as a sign, -
死亡事件是是容易的信号
The intuition of the news
死亡事件是直觉上容易感受得的
In just a country town.
尤其在这个小乡村





tassels 缨






coaches 大马车




translated by
Allan Tan
28 OCT 2008

SPM 2008 BI Poem analysis

IF ( By Rudyard Kipling )


Stanza 1
If you can keep your head when all about you
假如你能够保持清醒/冷静当你四周的人
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
不再冷静又责怪你关于一些出错
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
假如你可以相信你自己当所有人都怀疑你时
But make allowance for their doubting too,
但也让别人可有怀疑你的权利
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
假如你可以等待但不会因为等待而厌倦
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
或者被欺骗却不会去欺骗别人
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
或者被憎恨但不会去憎恨别人
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
还有不要看起来太成功，也别说起话来太精明

Moral value
We must be calm.
We must give others the right to doubt.
We must have confidence in our ability.
We must believe in ourselves.
We must be honest.
We must be humble.

Stanza 2
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
如果你有梦想，别只是想而已/别让梦想控制你
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
如果你能够思考，采取行动而不让思考荒废你时间
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
如果你能以同样的心境面对及对待失败与成功
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
如果你能忍受你所说的真相
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
被其他人（骗子）扭曲以便欺骗别人
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
或者，看着你用一生区建造的东西毁掉了
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
然后， 站起来，以虚弱和年老的身躯重建所有的一切

Moral value
We must work hard to achieve our dreams.
We must think and act wisely and not to waste our lives.
We must treat success and failure in the same way.
We must not become too attached to material things.
We must not be upset when others distort our words.
We must be strong in times of failure.


stanza 3
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
如果你能把所有赢来的
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
一次过以抛钱币来冒险
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
然后输了，再重新从原点开始
And never breath a word about your loss;
热后从不说出一口你的损失
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
如果你能强迫你的元气，神经与肌肉
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
来操作，当它们都失去了原本的状态
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
然后你坚持，当你再也一无所有时
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
除了那个向它们说出“继续吧“的意志


Moral value
We must prepare to take risk.
We must not too attached with material things
We must start again after we fail.
We must never complain.
We must never give up/quit/ although when we are weak and old.
We must have strong determination to go on although when we are weak and old.


stanza 4
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
如果你能和普通人讲话时保持你的德行
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
或者和国王并肩而行时，也没失去平易近人的特性
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
如果敌人或亲爱的朋友都无法伤害你
If all men count with you, but none too much,
如果所有的人都亲近你，但没有任何一个太多亲近
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
如果你能填满所有宝贵的每一分钟
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
以六十秒的价值度过
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
你将获得的是这世上最美好的一切
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
还有，更甚的是，你将成为男人， 我的孩子啊!

Moral value
We must be virtuous and humble.
We must have high moral standard.
We must socialize with people from all works of life.
We must live harmoniously with others.We must treat every one equally.
We must spend our time wisely.


Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.1.

This advice is given to
A. a man called Will
B. the father
C. the king
D. the son

2. In line 2 of stanza 1, what does the 'it' mean?
A. You
B. Your head
C. Your enemy
D. The bad situation

3. In line 1 of stanza 2, the advice means
A. you should not be controlled by your dreams
B. you should dream about your master
C. you should try your best not to dream
D. you should dream about becoming a master

4. Stanza 2 mentions a person who 'can think'. Such a person will be able to
A. repeat facts to someone else
B. remember the facts
C. analyse the facts
D. learn many facts

5. In stanza 3, what does 'Hold on!' mean?
A. Wait a while.
B. Don't give up.
C. Don't take action.
D. Don't lose your money.

6. In stanza 4, what does 'If all men count with you' mean?
A. If everyone studies mathematics with you
B. If only the men are important to you
C. If everyone is numbered with you
D. If everyone is respected by you

7. Which of the following moral values can be found in the poem?
A. Don't forget your moral principles in trying to please people.
B. Keep calm and cool.
C. Be patient.
D. All of the above.


Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. What does the poem advise you to do when someone tells a lie about you?

2. In your opinion, is it good advice not to tell anyone about your loss? Explain your answer.

3. Give an example of how 'loving friends can hurt you'.

4. How can you make 'all men count with you'?