Pablo Neruda (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973 / Parral / Chile)
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.
Read poems about / on: thanks, pride, rose, fire, dark, light, love, sonnet, flower
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I love the last stanza, such a contrast to the rest of the poem
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
Aaaaahhh! ! Just brilliant...so much of emotions in such few words.
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.
i absolutly love this poem its in the movie patch ada, s so sad
Absolutely beautiful! ! !
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......
truly magnificent! magnificent!
...brilliant! : melts:
I wish I could the love a try. Good poem.