’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

THE.

More strange than true. I never may believe

These antic fables, nor these fairy toys.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

Are of imagination all compact.

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;

That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing

A local habitation and a name.

Such tricks hath strong imagination,

That if it would but apprehend some joy,

It comprehends some bringer of that joy;

Or in the night, imagining some fear,

How easy is a bush suppos’d a bear! (V. i. 1-22)

（朱生豪译）

’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

正常语序：it is strange that these lovers speak of.

'Tis 为了音步省略了"it"的“i”，否则这行就有11个音节，无法成为五音步的10个音节。

THE.

More strange than true. 

（What lovers speak of） are more strange than true.

更奇怪，而不是真实的。换句话说，更奇怪而且是假的，编造的。

I never may believe

These antic fables, nor these fairy toys.

 I’ll never believe any of these old legends or fairy tales.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

seething: 火热的，沸腾的，内心极度激动的

shaping: 成形(物)，塑造(物))

apprehend: understand

comprehend: understand, often used in negative sentences. 在这里，cool reason不如前面的fantasies那么能理解，是否定句，故用comprehend。更重要的一方面：apprehend和comprehend押韵。

主句: Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies

宾语从句: that apprehend/ More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

Are of imagination all compact.

compact: adj. closely and firmly packed together，紧密的；坚实的。

正常语序: The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are all compact of imagination.

翻译：情人们和疯子们都富于纷乱的思想和成形的幻觉，他们所理解到的永远不是冷静的理智所能充分了解的。（朱生豪）

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;

That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.

as frantic (as madman)

Helen: 希腊美人，《荷马史诗》中倾城倾国的海伦，引发第一次世界大战：特洛伊战争

brow: 额头

Egypt: 吉普赛人曾被以为来自埃及，在这里指吉普赛人。吉普赛人一直社会地位不高，过着流浪生活，在禁止流浪汉的英国，他们当然更不会有多“美”，不过在爱人的狂妄想象中，当然是“情人眼里出西施”。

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

doth: does. 英语语法经历了不断简化的过程，早期现代英语第二人称和第三人称都有不同词缀，不过已经比乔叟时代简化很多。可是欧洲其他语言依然对第一、第二、第三人称的单数和复数都有不同动词词缀，比如，拉丁语和现代德语第三人称单数的动词词缀加“t”。

诗人的眼睛在神奇的狂放的一转中，便能从天上看到地下，从地下看到天上。

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing

A local habitation and a name.

And as imagination bodies forth/ The forms of things unknown: 也许是时间/比较/原因状语从句，不确定性让解读变得多样化

gives to aery nothing /A local habitation and a name: 

(当)想象把不知名的事物用一种方式具体呈现出来，诗人的笔再使它们具有如实的形象，空虚的无物也有了居处和名字. (朱生豪译 Bunny编辑)

Such tricks hath strong imagination,

That if it would but apprehend some joy,

It comprehends some bringer of that joy;

All these people have such strong imaginations that, when they feel happy, they assume a god or some other supernatural being is bringing that happiness to them. 

Or in the night, imagining some fear,

How easy is a bush suppos’d a bear!

Or if they’re afraid of something at night, they look at the shrubbery and imagine it’s a wild bear!

’Tis strange, my Theseus, that these lovers speak of.

THE.

More strange than true. I never may believe

These antic fables, nor these fairy toys.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

Are of imagination all compact.

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold;

That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing

A local habitation and a name.

Such tricks hath strong imagination,

That if it would but apprehend some joy,

It comprehends some bringer of that joy;

Or in the night, imagining some fear,

How easy is a bush suppos’d a bear! (V. i. 1-22)

（朱生豪译）

paraphrase来自NOFEARSHAKESPEARE