TransbliterationsShakespeare's Sonnets, rewritten

Part II. Knowing

I X-out Days on the Calendar

Shakespeare's Sonnet XII → Transbliterated (042)

Shakespeare

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o’er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
    And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
    Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

Transbliteration

I X-out days on the calendar
	To know how much longer
	I will be humiliated
Starting from that first horrible night
	When all was sobbing and slicing
To the day
	When I can see through the smoke
		Rising from the stumps of thirteen years
	To the larger forest
		And the saplings of mercy


	So much brush
		Had gathered on the forest floor
One spark
	Sweetly blown in the wrong direction
Warmed your heart
	Swept through mine
		And I had to flee my own grove
	Burning faster
		Than anything else could grow
			No rivers flowing to contain it

I am razed
	Naked
		Until brave saplings can clothe me again

I am left with only stone
	And simple mosses
Questioning the campfire we had
	Not a hearth
		No walls between us and perdition
Measured against the sonnet and its Spanish

How this poem's lines relate to Shakespeare's Sonnet XII and to the Google Translate Spanish it was written from. Counts are made by script, and each line's label comes from an AI judge. Sentences in italics are Claude's reading, not the poet's. How it was measured →

From the English
  • Restated
  • Inverted
  • Transbliterated
  • Original
From the Spanish
  • Faithful
  • Noise
  • Untouched

The poem turns the sonnet's catalogue of time's ravages into a forest fire that razes a relationship, keeping the counting of days, bare trees, things dying faster than they grow and the hope of new saplings, but dropping the plea for offspring. The Spanish supplied 'horrible', the sabre behind 'slicing', brave as an adjective and 'perdition'.

The sonnet
Watching time wither days, flowers, hair and harvests, the speaker knows the young man's beauty must die too, and only offspring can defy Time's scythe.
Argument kept
1 of 4
Feeling
time −1 → the ruined relationship −2 (redirected)
Spoken to
the young man → a former lover, mostly narrative
Translation
adequacy 2.0 · fluency 1.6 · chrF 52. Some images of decay come through line by line, but the reasoning that links them is garbled. The couplet that gives the poem its point is lost entirely.
Judge
medium confidence · free-standing

lift 0.11 aligned 21% (chance 10%) order 0.67 verbatim 0% Spanish look-alikes 5% (chance 1%)left in English 4%

Sonnet XII, with its Spanish

  1. S1When I do count the clock that tells the time, Cuando me cuentan el reloj que da la hora, adequacy 2 · fluency 2 · role swap · grammar
  2. S2And see the brave day sunk in hideous night; Y ver el valiente día hundido en la noche horrible; adequacy 3 · fluency 2 · wrong sense · grammar
  3. S3When I behold the violet past prime, Cuando contemplo la violeta últimos principal, adequacy 1 · fluency 1 · archaic misread · wrong sense · grammar
  4. S4And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white; Y todos los rizos sable o'er silver'd con blanco; adequacy 1 · fluency 1 · untranslated · grammar
  5. S5When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, Cuando los árboles altos que veo estéril de hojas adequacy 3 · fluency 2 · grammar
  6. S6Which erst from heat did canopy the herd, ¿Qué erst del calor hizo dosel del rebaño, adequacy 1 · fluency 1 · untranslated · wrong sense · grammar
  7. S7And summer's green all girded up in sheaves, Y el verano es todo verde ceñido en gavillas adequacy 2 · fluency 3 · wrong sense
  8. S8Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard, Borne en el féretro con el blanco y la barba hirsuta, adequacy 2 · fluency 1 · untranslated · grammar
  9. S9Then of thy beauty do I question make, Luego de tu hermosura puedo hacer la pregunta, adequacy 3 · fluency 3 · addition
  10. S10That thou among the wastes of time must go, Que tú eres entre todas las pérdidas de tiempo que ir, adequacy 1 · fluency 1 · wrong sense · grammar
  11. S11Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake Dado que los dulces y las bellezas hacer por sí mismos abandonar adequacy 2 · fluency 1 · wrong sense · grammar
  12. S12And die as fast as they see others grow; Y mueren tan rápido como ellos ven a otros a crecer; adequacy 4 · fluency 3 · grammar
  13. S13And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence Y nada ontra guadaña del Tiempo puede hacer la defensa adequacy 3 · fluency 2 · grammar
  14. S14Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. Guardar raza, le valientes cuando él toma Vete. adequacy 0 · fluency 0 · wrong sense · omission · grammar

Transbliteration

  1. P1I X-out days on the calendar S1 · modernized — counting the clock becomes crossing off days
  2. P2To know how much longer S1 · transformed
  3. P3I will be humiliated no source · original
  4. P4Starting from that first horrible night S2 · spanish-echo · via cognate «la noche horrible» — horrible taken from the Spanish
  5. P5When all was sobbing and slicing S4 · spanish-echo · via cognate «rizos sable o'er silver'd» — sable, Spanish for sabre, suggests slicing
  6. P6To the day S2 · transformed
  7. P7When I can see through the smoke S5 · transformed
  8. P8Rising from the stumps of thirteen years S5 · transformed — bare trees become burnt stumps
  9. P9To the larger forest S5 · transformed
  10. P10And the saplings of mercy S14 · transformed — offspring as saplings; save as mercy
  11. P11So much brush S7 · transformed
  12. P12Had gathered on the forest floor S7 · transformed
  13. P13One spark no source · original
  14. P14Sweetly blown in the wrong direction S11 · transformed
  15. P15Warmed your heart no source · original
  16. P16Swept through mine no source · original
  17. P17And I had to flee my own grove S11 · transformed — forsake becomes flee
  18. P18Burning faster S12 · transformed
  19. P19Than anything else could grow S12 · transformed
  20. P20No rivers flowing to contain it S13 · transformed — no defence against the fire
  21. P21I am razed S13 · transformed
  22. P22Naked S5 · transformed
  23. P23Until brave saplings can clothe me again S14 · spanish-echo · via mistranslation «le valientes» — brave as defy came back as valientes, courageous
  24. P24I am left with only stone no source · original
  25. P25And simple mosses no source · original
  26. P26Questioning the campfire we had S9 · transformed
  27. P27Not a hearth no source · original
  28. P28No walls between us and perdition S10,13 · spanish-echo · via cognate «las pérdidas de tiempo» — pérdidas read as perdition

Through the Spanish

  • cognateT2 → P4 «la noche horrible» “Starting from that first horrible night”
  • cognateT4 → P5 «rizos sable o'er silver'd» “When all was sobbing and slicing”
  • mistranslationT14 → P23 «le valientes» “Until brave saplings can clothe me again”
  • cognateT10 → P28 «las pérdidas de tiempo» “No walls between us and perdition”

Where the translation failed

  • T14 “Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.” → «Guardar raza, le valientes cuando él toma Vete.» The couplet's answer, that only offspring can defy Time, becomes nonsense.
  • T10 “the wastes of time” → «las pérdidas de tiempo» Time's ravages become a waste of time, turning the fear of death into idleness.
  • T3 “the violet past prime” → «la violeta últimos principal» The faded violet, the first image of decay, is unreadable.

See it in the garden →

Hear it read, and watch it turn

The reading, over an interpolation walk through this rendering's own images: each sculpture arrives on the last word of the lines it answers.

The poem, line by line

I X-out days on the calendar
	To know how much longer
	I will be humiliated
Sculpture for: I X-out days on the calendar / To know how much longer / I will be humiliated
How this image was made
Triggering line
I X-out days on the calendar To know how much longer I will be humiliated
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
Starting from that first horrible night
	When all was sobbing and slicing

Written, not yet carved.

To the day
	When I can see through the smoke
Sculpture for: To the day / When I can see through the smoke
How this image was made
Triggering line
To the day When I can see through the emblematic smoke
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • symbolizing prompt adds "emblematic"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
		Rising from the stumps of thirteen years
Sculpture for: Rising from the stumps of thirteen years
How this image was made
Triggering line
emblematic smoke Rising from the minimalist stumps of thirteen years
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • substantive prompt adds "emblematic smoke"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "minimalist"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
	To the larger forest
		And the saplings of mercy
Sculpture for: To the larger forest / And the saplings of mercy
How this image was made
Triggering line
see through the stylized smoke To the larger conceptual forest And the conceptual saplings of mercy
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • substantive prompt adds "see through the stylized smoke"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "conceptual"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "conceptual"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
	So much brush
		Had gathered on the forest floor
Sculpture for: So much brush / Had gathered on the forest floor
How this image was made
Triggering line
So much emblematic brush Had gathered on the conceptual forest floor
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • symbolizing prompt adds "emblematic"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "conceptual"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
One spark
	Sweetly blown in the wrong direction
Warmed your heart
Sculpture for: One spark / Sweetly blown in the wrong direction / Warmed your heart
How this image was made
Triggering line
One symoblic spark Sweetly blown in the wrong direction Warmed your symoblic heart
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • symbolizing prompt adds "symoblic"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "symoblic"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
	Swept through mine
		And I had to flee my own grove
Sculpture for: Swept through mine / And I had to flee my own grove
How this image was made
Triggering line
One symoblic spark Swept through mine And I had to flee my own emblematic grove
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • substantive prompt adds "one symoblic spark"
  • symbolizing prompt adds "emblematic"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
	Burning faster
		Than anything else could grow
Sculpture for: Burning faster / Than anything else could grow
How this image was made
Triggering line
my own emblematic grove conceptual Burning faster Than anything else could grow
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • substantive prompt adds "my own emblematic grove conceptual"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
			No rivers flowing to contain it
I am razed
	Naked
		Until brave saplings can clothe me again

Written, not yet carved.

I am left with only stone
	And simple mosses
Sculpture for: I am left with only stone / And simple mosses
How this image was made
Triggering line
I am left with only stone And simple conceptual mosses
Seed
1820906805 · 4 steps
Run
20250212055135_1820906805
Drift
  • symbolizing prompt adds "conceptual"
CLIP the short prompt T5 the long prompt
Art period historical painting Cubism
Material sandstone stucco
Adjectives universal, stimulating, existing for a brief moment visionary, devastating, deceptive, gifted, coalesce, monumental
Background Donum Estate beautiful location
Time of day mid-afternoon
Adverbs partially constrained, cruelly somber scene, symphony of evolution and transformation, stable configurations
Image qualities award-winning, dslr camera 32k UHD, Anscochrome, perfect lighting, 2019, depth of field, smooth, Synthspirited Vision, cartridge-loaded, national geographic
Shape sculpture garden sculpture garden 
Questioning the campfire we had
	Not a hearth
		No walls between us and perdition

Written, not yet carved.

Sculptures

From line 1: “I X-out days on the calendar To know how much longer I will be humiliated”
From line 3: “To the day When I can see through the emblematic smoke”
From line 4: “emblematic smoke Rising from the minimalist stumps of thirteen years”
From line 5: “see through the stylized smoke To the larger conceptual forest And the conceptual saplings of mercy”
From line 6: “So much emblematic brush Had gathered on the conceptual forest floor”
From line 7: “One symoblic spark Sweetly blown in the wrong direction Warmed your symoblic heart”
From line 8: “One symoblic spark Swept through mine And I had to flee my own emblematic grove”
From line 9: “my own emblematic grove conceptual Burning faster Than anything else could grow”
From line 12: “I am left with only stone And simple conceptual mosses”