Love

I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart

And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life

Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,

And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.

Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

我爱你
不光因为你的样子
还因为和你在一起时
我的样子

我爱你
不光因为
你如何看待自己
还因为
你如何看待我

我爱你
因为你的手
抚慰我心灵的丘壑

不计较我所有的傻气和弱点
尽管你会时不时地
隐约注意到这些

而你引出
并照亮
我心里美丽的地方
别人都不曾费心找寻的我的美丽

我爱你
因为你将我的生活
化腐朽为神奇

不是一间客栈
而是你虔诚的神殿
工作之外
我的每一天
你都不曾责备
而是为我倾唱

我爱你
因为你做了
超过世俗约定的一切
你尽所可能的为我奉献
令我明媚

给予我
比命运还要幸福的一切

你倾其所有
没有一次触摸
没有一句话语
没有一丝暗示
你倾其所有
仅仅因为你自己

也许这就是
一个朋友
最终的真谛



《爱》是美国人民最喜爱的诗歌之一，常在婚礼、演讲和朗诵时被引用，关于其作者Roy Croft知之甚少。