Shakepeare's sonnet 18 (the most famous one)

Original

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee




Simplified

Shall I compare you to a summer's day?
You are more lovely and more constant:
Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May
And summer is far too short:

At times the sun is too hot,
It often goes behind the clouds;
And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty,
By misfortune or by nature's planned out course.

But your youth shall not fade,
Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;
Nor will death claim you for his own,
Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.

So long as there are people on this earth,
So long will this poem live on, making you immortal


Translated

Ska du bli jämförd med en sommardag?
Du är mer älsklig, mera lagom het
majs blida knoppar bryts av blåstens tag
och alla sommarens kontrakt går bet.

Ibland är solens ansikte för varmt
och ofta mörknar hennes gyllne drag.
Allt vackert tacklar av och får det armt,
bryts ner av ödet och naturens lag.

Din sommarglans ska aldrig blekna av
och mista allt på Dödens direktiv,
Han lyckas aldrig skryta med din grav,
min dikt och dina barn ger evigt liv

Så länge män kan andas, ögon se,
ska detta leva kvar och liv dig ge.