Sonnet 33. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

The poem is about the beauty of the many sunrises which he has seen light up the mountain-tops, caress the green meadows, turn pale streams golden. But sometimes the sun is hidden by base clouds as it goes westward across the sky with this disgrace.One early morning, the sun shone gloriously on his brow, but only for an hour, then the regional clouds hid the sun. Even so, he does not scorn the sun for this; he still loves the sun for' Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth'. This last line is enigmatic and I am still thinking about what it means.
When you translate Shakespeare, you soon get a sense of perfection: regular rhyme and metre, which do not restrict the poem's meaning at all. That is artistry. The 3 quatrains and the couplet rhyme: abab/cdcd/efef/gg. As usual, Shakespeare has got everything right. There is good contrast between the beauty of the sun, and the ugly stain of the clouds.