On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-Three
　　How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
　　Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
　　My hasting days fly on with full career,
　　But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.
　　Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
　　That I to manhood am arrived so near;
　　And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
　　That some more timely-happy spirits endu’th.
　　Yet, be it less or more, or soon or slow,
　　It shall be still in strictest measure even
　　To that same lot, however mean or high,
　　Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven;
　　All is, if I have grace to use it so,
　　As ever in my great Task-Master’s eye.
　　当你满23岁
　　时间啊，这窃取青春的巧贼，竟这样
　　迅速地用双翅运走了我的二十三岁，
　　我的逝水年华匆匆地过去，
　　但我的暮春却不曾开花结蕾;
　　我的面貌也许还不够苍老，
　　但是我确已接近成人的年岁，
　　我的内心更显得不够成熟，
　　远不如那些早立业的同辈;
　　但不管我成熟迟早，或快或慢，
　　这和我既定的命运——那时间与天意
　　要领我达到的命运无论是(贵贱)——
　　仍然会严格符合，不爽毫厘。
　　只要我好自为之，一切都还是
　　在我的严厉主人监督的眼里。