Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973 / Parral / Chile)

poet Pablo Neruda
#3 on top 500 poets
What do you think this poem is about?

‘Perhaps not to be is to be without your being.’

Perhaps not to be is to be without your being,
without your going, that cuts noon light
like a blue flower, without your passing
later through fog and stones,
without the torch you lift in your hand
that others may not see as golden,
that perhaps no one believed blossomed
the glowing origin of the rose,
without, in the end, your being, your coming
suddenly, inspiringly, to know my life,
blaze of the rose-tree, wheat of the breeze:
and it follows that I am, because you are:
it follows from ‘you are’, that I am, and we:
and, because of love, you will, I will,
We will, come to be.

Pablo Neruda
Submitted: Monday, March 22, 2010

Comments about this poem (‘Perhaps not to be is to be without your being.’ by Pablo Neruda )

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  • Oluchi Michael (3/30/2012 4:41:00 AM)

    Very deep and sincere.

    2 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Blake Crawford (2/27/2012 9:13:00 AM)

    Then tell me your number Desiree, and i will gladly read the poem to you.

    5 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Blake Crawford (2/27/2012 9:13:00 AM)

    Then tell me your number Desiree, and i will gladly read the poem to you.

    2 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • Desiree Edwards (2/22/2012 8:45:00 PM)

    I would love to hear this poem read aloud. I would like to know if it sounds the same in the minds of others as it does in mine. Lovely poem!

    4 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Manuj K. Das (2/10/2012 8:17:00 PM)

    favulous poem... I love it very much.

    2 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Terrance Henry (1/31/2012 9:08:00 PM)

    so real so loving. AH I wish I could express myself so.

    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Yi Park (12/31/2011 10:54:00 AM)

    Powerful yet tentative...

    3 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • R.K. Cowles (11/15/2011 1:39:00 PM)

    This blew my mind! Excellent poem....

    3 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Ratnakar Mandlik (10/2/2011 3:23:00 AM)

    Excellent poem. I liked it.

    3 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • L.c.naga Raj (9/27/2011 12:13:00 AM)

    Fabulous poem, remember reading this earlier in 'RESIDENCE ON EARTH'

    2 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
Read all 11 comments »

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