W. H.

Auden Law like Love (1939)

Two poems rich in metaphor and imagery Law, say the gardeners, is the sun, If we, dear, know we know no more
Law is the one Than they about the Law,
All gardeners obey If I no more than you
As I Walked Out One To-morrow, yesterday, to-day. Know what we should and should not do
Except that all agree
Evening (1940) 'In headaches and in worry Gladly or miserably
Vaguely life leaks away, Law is the wisdom of the old,
The impotent grandfathers feebly scold; That the Law is
As I walked out one evening, And Time will have his fancy
The grandchildren put out a treble tongue, And that all know this
Walking down Bristol Street, To-morrow or to-day.
Law is the senses of the young. If therefore thinking it absurd
The crowds upon the pavement
To identify Law with some other word,
Were fields of harvest wheat. 'Into many a green valley
Law, says the priest with a priestly look, Unlike so many men
Drifts the appalling snow; I cannot say Law is again,
And down by the brimming river Time breaks the threaded dances Expounding to an unpriestly people,
I heard a lover sing And the diver's brilliant bow. Law is the words in my priestly book,
Law is my pulpit and my steeple. No more than they can we suppress
Under an arch of the railway:
The universal wish to guess
'Love has no ending. 'O plunge your hands in water,
Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose, Or slip out of our own position
Plunge them in up to the wrist; Into an unconcerned condition.
'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you Speaking clearly and most severely,
Stare, stare in the basin Although I can at least confine
Till China and Africa meet, Law is as I've told you before,
And wonder what you've missed. Your vanity and mine
And the river jumps over the mountain Law is as you know I suppose,
And the salmon sing in the street, Law is but let me explain it once more, To stating timidly
'The glacier knocks in the cupboard, A timid similarity,
The desert sighs in the bed, Law is The Law.
'I'll love you till the ocean We shall boast anyway:
And the crack in the tea-cup opens Like love I say.
Is folded and hung up to dry A lane to the land of the dead. Yet law-abiding scholars write:
And the seven stars go squawking Law is neither wrong nor right,
Like geese about the sky. Law is only crimes Like love we don't know where or why,
'Where the beggars raffle the banknotes Like love we can't compel or fly,
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack, Punished by places and by times,
'The years shall run like rabbits, Law is the clothes men wear Like love we often weep,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
For in my arms I hold Anytime, anywhere, Like love we seldom keep.
And Jill goes down on her back.
The Flower of the Ages, Law is Good morning and Good night.
And the first love of the world.' 'O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress: Others say, Law is our Fate;
But all the clocks in the city Life remains a blessing Others say, Law is our State;
Began to whirr and chime: Although you cannot bless. Others say, others say
'O let not Time deceive you, Law is no more,
You cannot conquer Time. 'O stand, stand at the window Law has gone away.
As the tears scald and start;
'In the burrows of the Nightmare You shall love your crooked neighbour And always the loud angry crowd,
Where Justice naked is, With your crooked heart.' Very angry and very loud,
Time watches from the shadow Law is We,
And coughs when you would kiss. It was late, late in the evening, And always the soft idiot softly Me.
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.