Room of Leaks----Selected Essays and Sketches by Bian Zhilin

Author: Bian Zhilin | Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-17
Features: Three Notes on Translating Poems — Seven Shakespearean Sonnets Among Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, regardless of who they were written for, they all fall under the category of love poems when judged purely by the poems themselves. From these love poems, we can also see that during the Renaissance, Shakespeare was passionate about life; and during the period of feudal society's disintegration and the rise of capitalist relations, he was particularly sensitive to the rapid changes of metabolism. The central themes of these poems are mainly: time, love, and art (poetry). The central idea is: life is short, and one should seize the day — within the realm of love, it means seizing love; for love to last, it depends on the expression of art (poetry), while on the other hand, the enduring value of art (poetry) relies on sincere emotions (love) — broadly speaking, it also depends on rich content. The seven selected poems have been rearranged according to the central idea in the standard version of the Sonnets collection — the original 106th sonnet is placed first, the 104th as the second, the 73rd as the third, the 65th as the fourth, the 79th as the fifth, the 82nd as the sixth, and the 32nd as the seventh — and they form a cohesive set.
The first sonnet describes the lover's (the poet's) admiration for the beloved's beauty. In intense adoration, the lover often believes the beloved is perfect, as if emerging from a book or a painting. They further believe that even if all ancient descriptions and praises are concentrated on the beloved, it is still not enough to fully capture their beauty. The lover feels cursed to witness such perfection yet unable to express a single word of praise. Here, the poet exaggerates to the fullest but also remains deeply human and reasonable.
In contrast to the exaggeration of the first sonnet, the second does not praise the beloved from the perspective of being "unprecedented" or "unparalleled." However, the focus lies in the lover's fear that the beloved's youthful beauty will change unnoticed. The second sonnet is largely filled with the atmosphere of midsummer, while the third presents a desolate winter landscape — the external scenery reflects the inner sense of aging. When a person ages both physically and mentally to this extent, they should live and love eagerly. The poet then cries out in the fourth sonnet, feeling as though everything is changing like a storm. Yet, the last two lines, though a common witty remark at the time, "Love glows in ink," take on a new meaning within the poem's structure, evoking the clarity and beauty of the sky after the storm; the tone perfectly matches the mood and meaning.
The next two sonnets, the fifth and sixth, are still lyrical but have a playful tone, yet they can be seen as meaningful discussions on poetry (art). In the fifth sonnet, the poet (lover) tells the beloved: "Before, I drew inspiration only from you, and my poetry was exceptionally good. Now you favor others, and their poetry surpasses mine: clearly, good poetry depends on a good person." From this, we can infer that art cannot be separated from life. The sixth sonnet states that good poetry lies not in fancy wordplay,, or bombastic rhetoric, but in authenticity. Shakespeare also criticized the over-the-top and loud performances of some bad actors on the stage in Hamlet.
The final sonnet, placed here as a conclusion, also holds significance. Art (poetry) develops with the times, but its enduring value still depends on the deep emotions (love) within it — broadly speaking, it depends on its genuine content.
1954, P17-19