కాబట్టి, నిరంకుశమైన కాలం మీద

బలహీనమైన నా కవితలకంటే, మిక్కిలి బలంగా

నువ్వే ఎందుకు ఎదురు దాడి చెయ్యకూడదు? 

నీ జవసత్త్వాలుడిగినా బలంగా నిలవకూడదు?

అనువైన ఈ క్షణాలని మహదానందంగా గడుపు;

ఎవరికీ మనసు అర్పించని ఎన్నో యువతీ మనోద్యానాలున్నాయి

పవిత్రమైన కోరిక కోరినపుడు, ప్రాణప్రదమైన పూలందించగలవు

నీ పోలికలున్న చిత్తరువులకంటే ఎక్కువపోలికలతో.

జీవితం, వయసుతెచ్చే ముడుతల్ని సరిదిద్దవలసి వచ్చినపుడు

అటు కాలలేఖిని గాని, ఇటు “అ-ఆ”లు దిద్దుతున్న నా కలానికిగాని

తరతరాల దృష్టిలో నిన్ను శాశ్వతంగా నిలబెట్టడానికి

స్వతస్సిద్ధమైన శక్తీ లేదు, పైపైనదిద్దగల నేర్పూ లేదు.

ఆత్మార్పణమే ఎప్పటికైనా నిన్ను నిలబెడుతుంది

నువ్వు నిలబడాలి, నీ నైపుణ్యము నిన్ను నడిపించాలి.

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షేక్స్పియర్  

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SONNET 16

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But wherefore do not you a mightier way

Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?

And fortify yourself in your decay

With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?

Now stand you on the top of happy hours;

And many maiden gardens, yet unset

With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers,

Much liker than your painted counterfeit:

So should the lines of life that life repair,

Which this (Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen),

Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,

Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.

   To give away yourself keeps yourself still,

   And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.

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Shakespeare

NOTES

 XVI. But Mr. W. H., in his children, can give a far more perfect record of his excellences than the poet can possibly make in his Sonnets. The living portrayal which may thus be drawn surpasses every written record, and the “counterfeit painted by the hand of the artist.”

2. This bloody tyrant, Time. Similarly in V. 3 the Hours are spoken of as “playing the tyrants.”

3. On the top of happy hours. In the perfection of joyous youth, which can last but a brief space.

4. Maiden gardens. A slight variation from the agricultural imagery of III. 6.

5. The lines of life, &c. I was inclined to take these words as referring to the wrinkles on the brow of advancing life (cf. XIX. 10), and to suppose the meaning to be, that declining age is compensated for by the growing beauty and maturing perfection of children. But, having regard to the general drift of the Sonnet, to the “painted counterfeit” of line 8, and to the words “You must live, drawn by your own sweet skill” (14), I now assent to the interpretation of the “lines of life” as children in whom Mr. W. H. is supposed to have himself portrayed his mental and bodily excellences.

6. Time’s pencil. Dr. Furnivall has suggested that this expression is used generally of such written records of the time as may refer to Mr. W. H. This view seems to me correct; and it is well worthy of note that in the Quarto, which, in this particular, I have followed, the words “Time’s pencil or my pupil pen” are bracketed together. The record of “Time’s pencil” would thus be of a similar kind to that made by the poet’s “pupil pen.” A reason may also thus be assigned for the use of the word “pupil” as implying that the record in these Sonnets was subordinate to the general record or chronicle of the period. This, in “this (Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen),” may be taken as meaning “any written record of this kind,” whether by “Time’s pencil,” &c.

7. Courtesy: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/16.html