Full character'd with lasting memory,
Which shall above that idle rank remain
Beyond all date, even to eternity;
Or at the least, so long as brain and heart
Have faculty by nature to subsist;
Till each to razed oblivion yield his part
Of thee, thy record never can be miss'd.
That poor retention could not so much hold,
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;
Therefore to give them from me was I bold,
To trust those tables that receive thee more:
To keep an adjunct to remember thee
Were to import forgetfulness in me.
你贈我的手冊已經(jīng)一筆一劃
永不磨滅地刻在我的心版上,
它將超越無聊的名位的高下,
跨過一切時代,以至無窮無疆:
或者,至少直到大自然的規(guī)律
容許心和腦繼續(xù)存在的一天;
直到它們把你每部分都讓給
遺忘,你的記憶將永遠不逸散。
可憐的手冊就無法那樣持久,
我也不用籌碼把你的愛登記;
所以你的手冊我大膽地放走,
把你交給更能珍藏你的冊子:
要靠備忘錄才不會把你遺忘,
豈不等于表明我對你也善忘?