They that have power to hurt and will do none,

That do not do the thing they most do show,

Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,

They rightly do inherit heaven's graces

And husband nature's riches from expense;

They are the lords and owners of their faces,

Others but stewards of their excellence.

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,

Though to itself it only live and die,

But if that flower with base infection meet,

The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

誰有力量損害人而不這樣干，

誰不做人以為他們愛做的事，

誰使人動情，自己卻石頭一般，

冰冷、無動于衷，對誘惑能抗拒--

誰就恰當地承受上天的恩寵，

善于貯藏和保管造化的財富；

他們才是自己美貌的主人翁，

而別人只是自己姿色的家奴。

夏天的花把夏天熏得多芳馥，

雖然對自己它只自開又自落，

但是那花若染上卑劣的病毒，

最賤的野草也比它高貴得多：

　　極香的東西一腐爛就成極臭，

　　爛百合花比野草更臭得難受。