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XVII (I do not love you...) by Pablo Neruda

10/11/2008 9:28:28 AM
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Pablo Neruda
(1904-1973)
Free Poetry E-Book:
61 poems of Pablo Neruda

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XVII (I do not love you...)
 
  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.


Translated by Stephen Tapscott

Anonymous Submission

Pablo Neruda


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

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RR Romac (4/8/2008 11:07:00 PM)
I heard this poem first on a televisoin show being read at a funeral. It was so beautiful I searched for it online knowing only a few of the lines... 'I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride'...
Tapas Dutta (4/27/2007 7:36:00 AM)
so true! 'I love you because I know no other way'

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10/11/2008 9:28:28 AM. You Are Here: XVII (I do not love you...) by Pablo Neruda

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