I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
No te amo si fueras rosa de sal, topacio
o flecha de chaveles que propagan el fuego
te amo comeo se aman ciertas cosas oscuras
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.
Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva
dentro de si, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,
y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo
el apretado aroma que acendio de la tierra.
Te amo sin saber como, ni cuando, ni de donde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo
asi te amo porque no se amar de otra manera,
sino asi de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mia,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueno.
N 40° 59.AB
W 74° 16.C
A = # of lines minus 1
B = # of love(s)
C = repetition at the start of lines 9-11 & 13-14 is known as:
- anaphora 800
- fina rama 775
- terra nova 750
Citation:
The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems, trans. Mark Eisner, (City Lights Books, 2004).
