Law Like Love
By W. H. Auden
Law, say the gardeners, is the sun,
Law is the one
All gardeners obey
To-morrow, yesterday, to-day.
Law is the wisdom of the old,
The impotent grandfathers feebly scold;
The grandchildren put out a treble tongue,
Law is the senses of the young.
Law, says the priest with a priestly look,
Expounding to an unpriestly people,
Law is the words in my priestly book,
Law is my pulpit and my steeple.
Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose,
Speaking clearly and most severely,
Law is as I’ve told you before,
Law is as you know I suppose,
Law is but let me explain it once more,
Law is The Law.
Yet law-abiding scholars write:
Law is neither wrong nor right,
Law is only crimes
Punished by places and by times,
Law is the clothes men wear
Anytime, anywhere,
Law is Good morning and Good night.
Others say, Law is our Fate;
Others say, Law is our State;
Others say, others say
Law is no more,
Law has gone away.
And always the loud angry crowd,
Very angry and very loud,
Law is We,
And always the soft idiot softly Me.
If we, dear, know we know no more
Than they about the Law,
If I no more than you
Know what we should and should not do
Except that all agree
Gladly or miserably
That the Law is
And that all know this
If therefore thinking it absurd
To identify Law with some other word,
Unlike so many men
I cannot say Law is again,
No more than they can we suppress
The universal wish to guess
Or slip out of our own position
Into an unconcerned condition.
Although I can at least confine
Your vanity and mine
To stating timidly
A timid similarity,
We shall boast anyway:
Like love I say.
Like love we don’t know where or why,
Like love we can’t compel or fly,
Like love we often weep,
Like love we seldom keep.
法律像愛情
查良錚（穆旦）譯
法律是太陽，園丁說，
法律是一種規格
一切園丁都得遵守
昨天，今天，以至永久
法律是古老的智慧，
曾被無力的祖父尖聲責備；
孫兒吐舌發出最高音：
法律是年輕人的理性。
法律，教士以教士的神情，
對一群沒有教士派的人解釋
法律是，我的傳教書里的文字，
法律是我的講壇和教堂的尖頂。
法律，法官以視線一掃鼻尖
最嚴厲而又清楚地說，
法律是，我曾告訴你們過，
法律是我想對你們很明顯，
法律是，讓我對你們再解釋一遍，
法律就是法律。
可是守法的學者寫書：
法律不是什么對和錯
法律只是一些罪惡
受到時間和地點的懲處，
法律是任何時間，任何地點，
人們所穿的衣服，
法律是早安和晚安。
又有人說，法律是我們的宿命
又有人說，法律是我們的國家
又有人說，又有人說
法律不再存在，
法律已經走開。
那總是聲勢洶洶的人群，
非常憤怒而高喊著說：
法律是「我們」，
還有那總是輕柔的白癡的「是我」。
假如我們知道，親愛的
我們不比他們更懂得法律，
假如我不比你更懂得
我們該做和不該做什么，
只知一切人都同意
也許高興也許悲哀地
同意法律就是
而且一切人都知道如此，
如果認為用另一個字
把它說明就是荒唐，
那我不能再說法律是
像很多別人那樣，
可我們也無權來壓制
把它猜一猜的普遍愿望
或者滑出我們的立場
進入一種漠不關心的情況。
雖然我至少可以局限
你的和我的虛榮
試陳述
微末的相同
我們還是可以夸
法律像愛情。
就像愛情，我們不知在哪里或為什么，
就像愛情，我們不能強求或逃避，
就像愛情，我們時常哭泣，
就像愛情，我們罕能保有。
