I do not love you…
April 20, 2007
.
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 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 fragrance,
risen darkly 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 and I fall asleep.
~ Pablo Neruda ~
March 18, 2010 at 9:00 pm
This is one of his love poems I have always loved, wondering of course if it is a bit too much to loose oneself in love in the sense of “hum rahe na hum, tum rahe na tum”. The other poem “tonight i write” I think has a better translation.