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.
有些人能害人,但不去害人,
得心应手的事,他们偏不做;
感化别人,自己磐石般坚定,
沉稳、冷峻,从不轻易受诱惑。
他们真正得到上天的隆恩,
知道节俭享用造化的厚礼,
他们是自己的容貌的主人;
其他人只配做才德的奴隶。
夏日的鲜花向着太阳争艳,
它的一枯一荣,全凭着天意,
一旦这鲜花遭受恶疾感染,
最低贱的野草也比它优异。
不端的行为,让香花也变臭,
腐烂的百合花,比野草更丑。