Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain

Full character'd with lasting memory,

Which shall above that idle rank remain

Beyond all date, even to eternity;

Or at the least, so long as brain and heart

Have faculty by nature to subsist;

Till each to razed oblivion yield his part

Of thee, thy record never can be miss'd.

That poor retention could not so much hold,

Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;

Therefore to give them from me was I bold,

To trust those tables that receive thee more:

To keep an adjunct to remember thee

Were to import forgetfulness in me.

你贈我的手冊已經一筆一劃

永不磨滅地刻在我的心版上，

它將超越無聊的名位的高下，

跨過一切時代，以至無窮無疆：

或者，至少直到大自然的規律

容許心和腦繼續存在的一天；

直到它們把你每部分都讓給

遺忘，你的記憶將永遠不逸散。

可憐的手冊就無法那樣持久，

我也不用籌碼把你的愛登記；

所以你的手冊我大膽地放走，

把你交給更能珍藏你的冊子：

　　要靠備忘錄才不會把你遺忘，

　　豈不等于表明我對你也善忘？