Tuesday, July 12, 2011

poems from pablo neruda

I was looking for quotes from Wuthering Heights, well, actually, I was craving for Heathcliff's passionate quotable quotes.  hmm... I think I'll compile my favorite quotes from Heathcliff in another post. So, anyway, I stumble upon Paolo Neruda's works and here they are. 








"Take bread away from me, if you wish, 
take air away, but 
do not take from me your laughter. 

Do not take away the rose, 
the lance flower that you pluck, 
the water that suddenly 
bursts forth in joy, 
the sudden wave 
of silver born in you. 

My struggle is harsh and I come back 
with eyes tired 
at times from having seen 
the unchanging earth, 
but when your laughter enters 
it rises to the sky seeking me 
and it opens for me all 
the doors of life. 

My love, in the darkest 
hour your laughter 
opens, and if suddenly 
you see my blood staining 
the stones of the street, 
laugh, because your laughter 
will be for my hands 
like a fresh sword. 

Next to the sea in the autumn, 
your laughter must raise 
its foamy cascade, 
and in the spring, love, 
I want your laughter like 
the flower I was waiting for, 
the blue flower, the rose 
of my echoing country. 

Laugh at the night, 
at the day, at the moon, 
laugh at the twisted 
streets of the island, 
laugh at this clumsy 
fool who loves you, 
but when I open 
my eyes and close them, 
when my steps go, 
when my steps return, 
deny me bread, air, 
light, spring, 
but never your laughter. " 
 Pablo Neruda







I do not love you as if you were a 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.


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