Can you translate this into regular english (it's in old english)?

Question

As close as you can get it to the true meaning would be great!

No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition, as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.

Answer 1

I do not hold any law to be very important unless it is a law from my own nature. Good and evil are just terms very easy to apply to this, the only right is what the constitution states, the only wrong is what it is against. A man should hold his opinion even if everyone else opposes him, as if everyone was wrong and unreasonable except for him. I am ashamed how easily we take names and ranks and titles and use that as a profile, and how we apply ourselves to large societies and dead instituions.

I tried my best, but it is much better to understand Olde English than to translate it. English is a very beuatiful language if it is used in this way, not if used in such a manner as "Yo, whats up ma homie"...

Answer 2

This is not actually Old English. Shakespearean literature is more Old English than this.

I suppose they are saying that the only constant truth or what they consider to be relevant to their existence is the conscience in which they possess. Laws can be understood differently by different people. Laws are relative based upon the fact that they are founded upon some sort of religious influence usually. People should stand behind what they believe, and they should not be so quick to gravitate towards what political figures, police officials, and old religious doctrine have deemed acceptable because they are not necessarily correct. Therefore, they are ashamed that there is a lack of individualism and self-morality in society.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

hmm.. this is not old english. Old English look like this:

Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum,
þeod-cyninga, þrym gefrunon
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. - Beowulf

( ^-^ ) I'll try to simplify that passage though.

No laws can be sacred to me but that of my own nature...
No rules/laws except his own morals are untouchable and cannot be changed

Good and bad are but names, very readily transferable to that or this...
Good and bad are just labels and the things they refer to are not always permenant. (Something that is "good" can be "bad")

the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it....
the only things he consider is right is the things that follows the laws that he sets for himself (morals? conscience?) and what he considers wrong are the things that goes against them.

A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition, as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he.....
A man should stand firm when other people disagrees with him. Everything else but himself short-lived and exists only in name.

I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.....
I am ashamed to find that we allow ourselves to be led blindly by labels and authorities, and to follow the trends of society as well as old-fashioned, passé, non-applicable customs/laws

Hope that clears you up..

Answer 4

That may not be "regular English" but it's certainly not Old English. Old English is from 1000 or so years ago or more.

Basically what it's saying is: What I think is right, is.

The only law that matters to me is what I like. It's easy to say that one thing or another is good or bad, but what's right is what makes me feel good, what's wrong is what doesn't. A man has to stand up to everyone, as if they were nothing. I am ashamed to think how much we let people in power, society in general, and institutions decide things for us.

Answer 5

It's not Old English at all - it's a 19th-century poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). If it were Old English it would be from the 11-13th century and you wouldn't be able to understand it at all. Anyway, it's not hard to understand but I've attempted a simplified version below:

The only law I value is the one that comes from within me. Good and bad mean different things to different people but the only wrong things for me are things that hurt me and the good things are those that benefit me. A person has to be true to his/herself, despite everything. I am ashamed to think how easily we subserviate ourselves to people just because they wear a badge, or have celebrity status or come from large, irrelevant organisations.

Answer 6

Uhm... what you put down is sort of "regular" English...?

Spelling is fine, a couple of inversions and oldfashioned ways of putting things, but I don´t see any Old English there so the meaning should be clear to you....? "In lovynge, how his aventures fellen fro wo to wele, and after out of joie..." that would be more like it, random quote. :)

Answer 7

"I follow my own conscience to do what is right."