Politics

W. B. Yeats

“In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in political terms.”

—Thomas Mann** Thomas Mann: 托馬斯·曼（1875—1955），德國作家，1929年獲諾貝爾文學獎。

How can I, that girl standing there,

My attention fix

On Roman or on Russian

Or on Spanish politics?

Yet here’s a traveled man that knows

What he talks about,

And there’s a politician

That has read and thought,

And maybe what they say is true

Of war and war’s alarms,

But O that I were young again

And held her in my arms!

“在我們的時代，人類的命運以政治形式展示其意義。”

——托馬斯·曼

我怎能——那女孩站在那兒

卻將我的注意力

置于羅馬或俄國

或西班牙的政治上？

這兒有位游者

無所不曉，

而那兒有位政客

博學善思，

也許他們所說都是真的——

有關(guān)戰(zhàn)爭和戰(zhàn)爭的警報，

哦，如果我再次年輕

將擁她入懷！