Shakespeare (England)
I will never admit the union of two hearts.
There will be any obstacles; Love is not true love,
If you turn the rudder as soon as you see someone change,
Or see others turn around and leave.
Oh, never! Love is the eternal tower lamp,
It watched the storm intently, but was indifferent;
Love is another star, guiding the lost boat.
You can measure how high it is, but its value is infinite.
Love is not affected by time, even if it is beautiful.
And white teeth are bound to suffer from the hand of time;
Love doesn't change with the moment,
It stands tall until the end.
If my words are wrong and prove to be incorrect,
Even if I don't write a poem, no one really loves it.
(translated by Liang)
For love, Shakespeare pursues sincerity and firmness. In many poems, he praises the loyalty and firmness between lovers. He believes that no matter what obstacles and twists and turns are encountered, no matter whether the other party has wavered or hesitated, sincere love will always be devoted, single-minded and unchangeable. His SonnetNo. 1 16 is one of the representative works, which expresses this love ideal vividly and perfectly with rich metaphors, firm tone and concise language.
At the beginning of the poem, he declared his belief in a firm tone: there will never be any obstacles to the combination of two hearts. Its positive significance is that true love can stand any hardships and be firm. In the next two sentences, the poet once again confirms his belief in a negative tone, excluding assumptions and exceptions, indicating that love that changes its mind when encountering twists and turns is not true love. In these four poems, the poet uses negative tone and repetition to express firm tone to show the absoluteness of his belief. Between the lines, there is a kind of contempt and indignation for those who treat love fickle. The beginning is sudden and rapid, and there is no room for argument. The poet seems to be arguing with someone. The other person is probably a person who is skeptical about the firmness of love. His reason is nothing more than that one party changes its original intention in the process of love, which is a common phenomenon. This view angered the poet, who suddenly grabbed the above four sentences without waiting for the other party to finish, making the man dumbfounded and speechless.
The fifth sentence begins with "Oh, never!" In a word, it emphasizes the tone again, and at the same time connects the four poems before and after. These four sentences have a strong lyrical meaning. Compared with the first four sentences, the tone is soothing, and the poet seems to realize that he was too abrupt just now, and wants to gently tell the other party the truth, for example. These four poems contain two vivid and profound metaphors. The first metaphor says that "love is an eternal tower lamp", which never wavers in the face of storms. The second metaphor is "Love is the star that guides the lost boat". No matter what happens, it will not change its position. These two metaphors have double meanings, one is their own firmness, and the other is the guidance to get lost. Shakespeare's writing is undoubtedly reminding people that true love is not only firm and eternal, but also can guide people through twists and turns, overcome obstacles and achieve the combination of two hearts.
In the ninth to twelfth sentences, the poet takes this ideal view of love one step further. If the first eight sentences are about how firm love can endure twists and turns, then these four sentences are about how love can overcome the test of time. Shakespeare believes that time is ruthless and beauty is easy to get old, which is an inevitable objective law, but time cannot destroy loyal love; Stars flow, time passes, but love lasts forever, with the sun and the moon, and keep its beautiful youth forever.
The above eight sentences are vivid and concise, which can be said to be wonderful love proverbs. When this poem was written here, it has become clean, and the last two sentences of the poem can no longer be written with the usual aphoristic conclusion. Therefore, the poet skillfully changed his tone of ridicule, and from another angle, he actually declared more firmly that everything he said was irrefutable truth. Because, if these words are wrong, then there is no true love in the world.