25+ Pablo Neruda Poems, Ranked by Poetry Experts

If You Forget Me

‘If You Forget Me’ speaks directly to the author’s lover, warning her what will happen if she falls out of love with the speaker.

The poem contains many of Neruda's most famous poetic preoccupations, including love, memory and his homeland, Chile. Neruda's skill lies in being able to weave these themes together into a coherent poem that touches upon each while retaining a degree of mystery. The exact inspiration for the poem is unclear, ensuring it can be universally applied like so many of his works.

If suddenly

you forget me

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.

Keeping Quiet

‘Keeping Quiet’ by Pablo Neruda is an incredibly thoughtful poem that stands out among Neruda’s many love poems. It takes a unique approach to the human condition and how “we” don’t understand ourselves.

This piece is a very beautiful example of Neruda's poetry that is slightly different than some of his most popular poems. It uses his same beautifully crafted lines to dive into the human condition, specifically his belief that humanity doesn't understand itself or take the proper time to understand each other.

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still

for once on the face of the earth,

let's not speak in any language;

I do not love you

‘I Do Not Love You,’ also known as ‘Sonnet 17,’ is certainly one of Pablo Neruda’s best-known and widely loved poems.

In this piece, his speaker states that his lover should either commit to loving him for the rest of time or move on. It’s a beautiful poem that uses darkness as one of its primary images. The poem is more mysterious than one might initially expect.

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.

Tonight I Can Write

‘Tonight I Can Write’ by Pablo Neruda explores love’s transient nature and enduring impact, capturing poignant emotions felt after a breakup.

'Tonight I Can Write' is one of Neruda's most famous poems. It is widely anthologized in various collections and studied as a significant representative of Neruda's poetic work. The poem explores the complex emotions and human condition after the conclusion of a romantic relationship. Simultaneously, the refrain 'Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines' accentuates the artistic output of the speaker's anguish, reflecting on the ability of artists to craft incredible empathetic work from genuine emotions even during challenging circumstances.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

And Because Love Battles

‘And Because Love Battles’ by Pablo Neruda is about a social battle, two lovers fight for unification. This poem presents the theme of love and its power to break through all the obligations.

The speaker describes his lover in this piece, defending her in front of the world and those who would seek to speak poorly of her. He tells anyone listening that he loves her exactly as she is and he wouldn’t do anything to change her.

And because love battles

not only in its burning agricultures

but also in the mouth of men and women,

I will finish off by taking the path away

What Spain Was Like

‘What Spain Was Like’ by Neruda reflects on Spain’s beauty and pain, highlighting its enduring spirit amid war.

While Neruda is rightly remembered as one of the greatest writers of love poetry in history, poems like 'What Spain was Like' demonstrate the political and social elements which were key to his work. Having lived and worked in Spain during the Second Spanish Republic, Neruda was incensed by the violence of the civil war and it left a profound mark on him for the rest of his life.

Spain was a taut, dry drum-head

Daily beating a dull thud

Flatlands and eagle's nest

Silence lashed by the storm.

Don’t Go Far Off

‘Don’t Go Far Off’ by Pablo Neruda is an impassioned plea for the beloved’s constant presence, showing fear of separation.

The poem, also known as 'Love Sonnet XLV,' explores the intricacies of love, a common concern of Neruda's poetry. It exemplifies his ability to convey nuanced feelings associated with romantic relationships. In this poem, the speaker asks his lover not to 'go far off' from where he is, as his life would not be worth living without her. He concludes that if she does leave him, he'll likely wander the earth looking for her for the rest of time.

Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --

because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long

and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station

when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

I Like For You To Be Still

Neruda’s ‘I Like For You To Be Still’ is one of the many striking love poems he wrote throughout his lifetime.

In ‘I Like for You to be Still,’ the speaker describes what it’s like to watch his lover while she’s still and seemingly distant. She’s melancholy, far away, as though her eyes “had flown away.” She’s “absent” and “full of sorrow.” The still leads him to think of death and the joy that he experiences when she smiles and it’s revealed that she’s not dead, she’s still there with him.

I like for you to be still

It is as though you are absent

And you hear me from far away

And my voice does not touch you

Every Day You Play

‘Every Day You Play’ by Pablo Neruda describes the overwhelming love a speaker has for the listener and the way his life is improved by their relationship.

In this piece, Pablo Neruda’s speaker compares his love to a light that fuels and crosses the universe. It’s his determination, he says at the end of the poem, that he loves this person until he knows she owns everything in existence. He speaks about how much his life has improved due to their relationship and to repay her he’s going to be there for her and nurture her until she blooms like a cherry tree.

Every day you play with the light of the universe.

Subtle visitor, you arrive in the flower and the water,

You are more than this white head that I hold tightly

as a bunch of flowers, every day, between my hands.

You are the daughter of the sea

Neruda’s ‘You are the daughter of the sea’ is a wonderful love poem based on the beauty and power found in the natural world.

In typical Neruda fashion, the poem 'You are the daughter of the sea' celebrates the beauty of a female figure through striking and imaginative imagery. The speaker compares his lover to elements of the earth, from flowers to waves, embodying her in natural forces. This approach is grounded in Neruda's Chilean context, given the country's extensive coastline, and suggests that she is as elemental as the ocean itself.

You are the daughter of the sea, oregano's first cousin.

Swimmer, your body is pure as the water;

cook, your blood is quick as the soil.

Everything you do is full of flowers, rich with the earth.

Explore more poems from Pablo Neruda

Love Sonnet XI

‘Love Sonnet XI’ by Pablo Neruda presents passionate longing and consuming desire through sensual imagery and intense metaphors.

While 'Love Sonnet XI' is not as widely recognized as some of Neruda's other works, it still holds significance amidst his overall corpus. The poem delves into thematics of love, desire, and passion interweaved into sensual imagery and rich symbolism representing Neruda's characteristic style and distinctive tone found in his celebrated love poetry.

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

A Dog Has Died

‘A Dog Has Died’ by Pablo Neruda is a heart-wrenching eulogy for the poet’s much-loved, deceased dog that also explores the dog’s personality and interactions with the speaker.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,

as only dogs know how to be happy

with only the autonomy

of their shameless spirit.

Ars Poetica

‘Ars Poetica’ delves into poetry’s essence, emerging from suffering and history’s depths, reflecting 20th-century fragmentation.

Between shadow and space, between harnesses and virgins,

endowed with a singular heart and fatal dreams,

impetuously pale, withered in the forehead

Here I Love You

Neruda’s ‘Here I Love You’ weaves distant love and longing, uses nature’s imagery to bridge the gap between lovers.

Here I love you.

In the dark pines the wind disentangles itself.

The moon glows like phosphorous on the vagrant waters.

Days, all one kind, go chasing each other.

Horses

With striking contrasts in imagery, Pablo Neruda’s poem ‘Horses’ explores light, darkness, beauty, and freedom.

Like waves of fire, they flared forward

and to my eyes filled the whole world,

empty till then. Perfect, ablaze,

they were like ten gods with pure white hoofs,

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