No More Clichés Poem by Octavio Paz

No More Clichés

Rating: 4.0


Beautiful face
That like a daisy opens its petals to the sun
So do you
Open your face to me as I turn the page.

Enchanting smile
Any man would be under your spell,
Oh, beauty of a magazine.

How many poems have been written to you?
How many Dantes have written to you, Beatrice?
To your obsessive illusion
To you manufacture fantasy.

But today I won't make one more Cliché
And write this poem to you.
No, no more clichés.

This poem is dedicated to those women
Whose beauty is in their charm,
In their intelligence,
In their character,
Not on their fabricated looks.

This poem is to you women,
That like a Shahrazade wake up
Everyday with a new story to tell,
A story that sings for change
That hopes for battles:
Battles for the love of the united flesh
Battles for passions aroused by a new day
Battle for the neglected rights
Or just battles to survive one more night.

Yes, to you women in a world of pain
To you, bright star in this ever-spending universe
To you, fighter of a thousand-and-one fights
To you, friend of my heart.

From now on, my head won't look down to a magazine
Rather, it will contemplate the night
And its bright stars,
And so, no more clichés.

No More Clichés
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Yacov Mitchenko 15 June 2010

Octavio Paz has written some magnificent poetry and is among my favorite 20th century poets, but this work is only passable. Paz expresses a fine sentiment - namely, that a woman should be appreciated for many reasons, and her looks is the least of them. There is beauty in her charm, intelligence, character, but I fail to see how all this goes beyond the cliches. The last 2 stanzas are particularly poor: I see 2 cliches and 2 trite and prosaic statements. Note: 'bright star in this ever-spending universe', 'world of pain', 'fighter...', and 'contemplate the night and its bright stars'. The first and last of these are certainly cliches, while 'world of pain' and 'fighters...' are trite and prosaic. Many readers judge a poem (falsely) on the basis of whether it agrees with their sensibilities, whether it has certain political content. In short, their judgements are usually emotive, divorced from considerations of craft and artistry. I for one can recognize and laud a poem whose content may be offensive (or at least controversial) , but which is beautifully and originally crafted.

18 22 Reply
Sandra Dodd 17 January 2010

As a woman, not one who writes, I am honored that there is a man on the planet who thinks like this. Great Job! Now required reading for the girls I mentor, if ya dont mind. Gotta try to get them to set the bar higher.

17 12 Reply
Kim Barney 06 February 2015

I think Czyka Tumaliuan hit the nail on the head with the comment offered below. Also, those who are finding various faults with the poem could be right, but I would like to read the poem in its original Spanish to see if it may have received a bad translation here. Does anyone know where I can see a copy of the original?

10 8 Reply
your parent 29 January 2018

no spanish version anymore, everyone speake english, other languages are occupied, please give up

0 1
Darlan M Cunha 15 August 2016

Octavio Paz is always by my side. He's really cool.

5 13 Reply
Venu R 02 May 2023

This poem is only about the beauty of women.The poet could have written about manh other qualities of women.This is absolutely a stereotypical mindset of judging a women or men with their looks.I think this poem is totally fiIlled with CLICHES

1 0 Reply
Rose Marie Juan-austin 02 December 2021

A beautiful and meaningful poem. Very inspiring.

0 0 Reply
Perfecto 09 December 2020

Perfecto Perfecto Perfecto Perfecto Perfecto Perfecto Perfecto

0 0 Reply
Mahtab Bangalee 25 May 2020

no this is not Clichés this is poem beautiful poem for the beautiful woman .......

0 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 25 May 2020

A great glowing tribute to the heroic deeds of women and their empowered actions at the same time describing disillusion with physical beauty of women. A well deserved modern pooem of the day.

0 0 Reply
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