[转载]疑难解答：yet canst not liv

yet canst not live = yet cannot live (survive) into the future

sonnet 4 (by William Shakespeare)

Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend 
Upon thyself thy beauty's legacy? 
Nature's bequest gives nothing but doth lend,
And being frank, she lends to those are free. 
Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse 
The bounteous largess given thee to give? 
Profitless usurer, why dost thou use 
So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?
For having traffic with thyself alone, 
Thou of thyself thy sweet self dost deceive.
Then how, when Nature calls thee to be gone, 
What acceptable audit canst thou leave? 
   Thy unused beauty must be tomb'd with thee, 
   Which, used, lives th' executor to be. 

NOTES

Unthrifty (1): wasteful or unprofitable.
beauty's legacy (2): the beauty passed down to you (that should extend to your children). Your beauty is but a loan from nature: you must not hoard it.
frank (4): generous.
free (4): liberal/generous.
niggard (5): miser.
usurer (7): moneylender.
yet canst not live? (8): i.e. beyond a short time.
    So great a sum of sums - Usurers had large sums of money at their disposal. They performed financial services which are nowadays done by banks.

    yet canst not live - the poet here compares the usurer who makes a comfortable living from the interest he charges, with the youth who has so much wealth of beauty, yet cannot live (survive) into the future.

traffic with thyself alone (9): A moneylender would not turn a profit if he lent only to himself.
acceptable audit (12): i.e. how will you settle your account with Nature if you remain childless?
th' executor to be (14): the child he would bear. 

SONNET 4 权威汉译：http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_a795440b0101i27l.html

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