How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting¹ year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December's bareness every where!
And yet this time removed was summer's time,
The teeming² autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,
Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease:
Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me
But hope of orphans³ and unfather'd fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are mute;
  Or, if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer
  That leaves look pale, dreading⁴ the winter's near.

离开了你，日子多么像严冬，
你，飞逝的流年中唯一的欢乐！
天色多阴暗！我又受尽了寒冻！
触目是龙锺腊月的一片萧索！
可是别离的时期恰好是夏日；
和膨胀着累累的丰收的秋天，
满载着青春的淫荡结下的果实，
好像怀胎的新寡妇，大腹便便：
但是这累累的丰收，在我看来，
只能成无父孤儿和乖异的果；
因夏天和它的欢娱把你款待，
你不在，连小鸟也停止了唱歌；
　　或者，即使它们唱，声调那么沉，
　　树叶全变灰了，生怕冬天降临。