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

poet Pablo Neruda
#4 on top 500 poets
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( 295 votes )
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Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Submitted: Friday, January 03, 2003


Read poems about / on: thanks, pride, rose, fire, dark, light, love, sonnet, flower

Comments about this poem (Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda )

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  • Sun Zoo (9/11/2012 5:34:00 PM)

    I love the last stanza, such a contrast to the rest of the poem

    10 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Noel Mc Inerney (12/7/2009 7:33:00 AM)

    this is one of my favourite poems it is so sad so sincere i love the way he lists the ways he doesn't love her then says how close he feels to her

    9 person liked.
    		10 person did not like.
  • Putul S (10/3/2009 1:19:00 AM)

    Aaaaahhh! ! Just brilliant...so much of emotions in such few words.

    11 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Janine Cody (9/17/2009 2:36:00 PM)

    This is the one that we chose to have read at our wedding. I LOVE it - especially the last 2 lines and the line about the light of hidden flowers. I've been married 7 years now and looked it up while searching for a poem to help a friend's daughter with her homework. Feeling a little dreamy now.

    9 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Noel Mc Inerney (9/11/2009 3:12:00 PM)

    i absolutly love this poem its in the movie patch ada, s so sad

    4 person liked.
    		10 person did not like.
  • Lorraine Margueritte Gasrel Black (6/18/2009 7:14:00 PM)

    Absolutely beautiful! ! !

    4 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • Mike Z (6/4/2009 8:12:00 PM)

    This and Robert Desnos' 'J'ai tant reves de toi' (I have dreamed of you so much)

    http: //www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1339.html

    always remind me of each other, even though they're not much alike. I guess it's the all-consuming passion elicited by both voices......

    5 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Mel Vincent Basconcillo (5/2/2009 9:17:00 AM)

    truly magnificent! magnificent!

    4 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • Aria Morte (12/15/2008 10:22:00 AM)

    ...brilliant! : melts:

    5 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • Riquetta Elliott (11/20/2008 11:49:00 AM)

    I wish I could the love a try. Good poem.

    4 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
Read all 22 comments »

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