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.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
Pablo Neruda is one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, often considered the single most important Latin American poet. Throughout his life, he served as a senator and diplomat. He won prestigious awards including the Nobel Prize and the Golden Wreath Award. In the seventies, Neruda met an end that may have been caused by poisoning, a tragic conclusion that resonates with the sorrow and passion found in his love poems.
‘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.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
‘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.
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,’ also known as ‘Sonnet 17,’ is certainly one of Pablo Neruda’s best-known and widely loved poems.
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’ by Pablo Neruda explores love’s transient nature and enduring impact, capturing poignant emotions felt after a breakup.
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’ 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.
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’ by Neruda reflects on Spain’s beauty and pain, highlighting its enduring spirit amid war.
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’ by Pablo Neruda is an impassioned plea for the beloved’s constant presence, showing fear of separation.
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.
Neruda’s ‘I Like For You To Be Still’ is one of the many striking love poems he wrote throughout his lifetime.
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’ by Pablo Neruda describes the overwhelming love a speaker has for the listener and the way his life is improved by their relationship.
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.
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.
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.
‘Love Sonnet XI’ by Pablo Neruda presents passionate longing and consuming desire through sensual imagery and intense metaphors.
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’ 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’ 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
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.
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,