Sonnet XVII
by Pablo Neruda
I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose
or topaz or the arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
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, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving than this:
where there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
***
Suggest some poets I should check out!
5 comments:
What a beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing it!
You should partcipate in Poetry Thursday. You don't have to write a poem but you can pick one and talk about it, just like you've done here.
Happy National Poetry Month!
Ooh. Nice idea. I didn't realize that about Poetry Thursday. Now suggest someone to read. I love your stuff, so who are poets of your ilk? :)
Read Marge Piercy!
Here is a link to a poem I think you might like:
http://www.margepiercy.com/sampling/poems-from-moon-female.htm
This is lovely, lovely, lovely. Thanks for sharing it.
As for poetry, consider signing up for this. It's a weekly e-mail with one poem hand-picked by Ted Kooser (the former Poet Laureate). The beauty of these poems is that they are accessible, and Kooser leads in with a pithy explanation as to the theme and why he selected that particular poem. I've really enjoyed receiving the e-mails.
Oh, so gorgeous. I'm going to print that one out. And at your wedding? I would have cried. The only poet I really love is Baudelaire- I'll post my favorite soon. I really like Charles Simic, too. thanks for the tip FC- I'm going to sign up too.
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