No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:

Thy pyramids built up with newer might

To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;

They are but dressings of a former sight.

Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire

What thou dost foist upon us that is old,

And rather make them born to our desire

Than think that we before have heard them told.

Thy registers and thee I both defy,

Not wondering at the present nor the past,

For thy records and what we see doth lie,

Made more or less by thy continual haste.

This I do vow and this shall ever be;

I will be true, despite thy scythe and thee.

不，時光，你斷不能夸說我在變：

你新建的金字塔，不管多雄壯，

對我一點不稀奇，一點不新鮮；

它們只是舊景象披上了新裝。

我們的生命太短促，所以羨慕

你拿來蒙騙我們的那些舊貨；

幻想它們是我們心愿的產(chǎn)物，

不肯信從前曾經(jīng)有人談起過。

對你和你的紀(jì)錄我同樣不賣賬，

過去和現(xiàn)在都不能使我驚奇，

因為你的記載和我所見都扯謊，

都多少是你疾馳中造下的孽跡。

　　我敢這樣發(fā)誓：我將萬古不渝，

　　不管你和你的鐮刀多么鋒利。