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More poems by Pablo NerudaPablo Neruda | Print this page.Print | Order a PoetryNotes Analysis of this poem.Analysis | View and Write CommentsComments (35)

XVII (I do not love you...)

Pablo Neruda

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

Added: 2 Mar 2002 | Last Read: 5 Sep 2008 2:55 PM | Viewed: 46246 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/3142/ | Viewed on 5 September 2008.
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