Three excerpts from Pablo Neruda’s "Love Poems"

By Abbey Villasis

Pablo Neruda and Matilde Urrutia, 1968. Photo: Evandro Texeira/Acervo IMS. 

With the fast approach of Valentine’s Day comes a resurgence of love and all things related into our lives, including romantic poetry. The poetry of Pablo Neruda is regarded as one of the best of the twentieth century. Born in Chile, Neruda published his first work, Enthusiasm and Perseverance (1917), at the age of 13 in the local Latin American newspaper La Mañana.

Love Poems is a book charged with sensuality and passion, clearly written as a tribute to Neruda’s lover and third wife, Matilde Urrutia. Despite being married three times, Urrutia was considered the love of Neruda’s life. According to a post by Southern Explorations, “Born in the same region of Chile, she shared common roots, though not his interest in politics or literature. Eight years his junior, Matilde had left her provincial home to become a singer and actress, career ambitions that ended when she entered Neruda’s realm. They became serious at the start of Neruda’s years of exile in Europe.”

Although the poet himself is not without controversy, the three poems that have been selected are meant as an introduction to those unfamiliar with the rhythm and language of Spanish poetry. In other words, they showcase how poets from this part of the world intertwine their world views with the feelings they possess toward their beloved, ultimately creating a sensational work of rhythmical composition.

To heighten the experience of reading such romantic poetry from this unique part of the world, I must add that as I was typing out these poems one Saturday morning, I was listening to Julio Iglesias’s Greatest Hits—which I cannot recommend enough to be listened to, either during the reading of these poems or shortly soon after, in order to fully capture the voice and essence of love in Latin America.

All poems translated by Donald D. Walsh.

 

The Queen

 

I have named you queen.

There are taller ones than you. taller.

There are purer ones than you, purer.

There are lovelier than you, lovelier.

 

But you are the queen.

 

When you go through the streets

no one recognizes you.

No one sees your crystal crown, no one looks

at the carpet of red gold

that you tread as you pass,

the nonexistent carpet.

 

And when you appear

all the rivers sound

in my body bells, bells

shake the sky,

and a hymn fills the world.

 

Only you and I,

only you and I, my love,

listen to it.

 

La Reina

 

Yo te he nombrado reina.

Hay más altas que tú, más altas.

Hay más puras que tú, más puras.

Hay más bellas que tú, hay más bellas.

 

Pero tú eres la reina.

 

Cuando vas por las calles

nadie te reconoce.

Nadie ve tu corona de cristal, nadie mira

la alfombra de oro rojo

que pisas cuando pasas,

la alfombra que no existe.

 

Y cuando asomas

suenan todos los ríos

en mi cuerpo, sacuden

el cielo las campanas,
y un himno llena el mundo.

Sólo tú y yo,

sólo tú y yo, amor mío,

lo escuchamos.

 

Your Laughter

 

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 lanceflower that you pluck,

the water that suddenly

bursts forth in your 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 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

boy 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

for I would die.

 

Tu Risa

 

Quítame el pan, si quieres,

quítame el aire, pero

no me quites tu risa.

 

No me quites la rosa,

la lanza que desgranas,

el agua que de pronto

estalla en tu alegría, 

la repentina ola

de plata que te nace.

 

Mi lucha es dura y vuelvo

con los ojos cansados

a veces de haber visto

la tierra que no cambia,

pero al entrar tu risa

sube al cielo buscándome

y abre para mí todas

las puertas de la vida.

 

Amor mío, en la hora

más oscura desgrana

tu risa, y si de pronto
ves que mi sangre mancha

las piedras de la calle,

 

ríe, porque tu risa

será para mis manos

como una espada fresca.

 

Junto al mar en otoño,

tu risa debe alzar

su cascada de espuma,

y en primavera, amor,

quiero tu risa como

la flor que yo esperaba,

la flor azul, la rosa

de mi patria sonora.

 

Ríete de la noche,

del día, de la luna,

ríete de las calles

torcidas de la isla,

ríete de este torpe

muchacho que te quiere,

pero cuando yo abro

los ojos y los cierro,

cuando mis pasos van,

cuando vuelven mis pasos,

niégame el pan, el aire,

la luz, la primavera,

pero tu risa nunca

porque me moriría.

 

In You The Earth

 

Little

rose,

roselet,

at times,

tiny and naked,

it seems

as though you would fit

in one of my hands,

as though I’ll clasp you like this

and carry you to my mouth,

but

suddenly

my feet touch your feet and my mouth to your lips:

you have grown,

your shoulders rise like two hills,

your breasts wander over my breast,

my arm scarcely manages to encircle the thin

new-moon line of your waist:

in love you have loosened yourself like sea water:

I can scarcely measure the sky’s most spacious eyes

and I lean down to your mouth to kiss the earth.

 

 En Ti La Tierra

 

Pequeña

rosa,

rosa pequeña,

a veces,

diminuta y desnuda,

parece

que en una mano mía

cabes,

que así voy a cerrarte

y llevarte a mi boca,

pero

de pronto

mis pies tocan tus pies y mi boca tus labios:

has crecido,

suben tus hombros como dos colinas,

tus pechos se pasean por mi pecho,

mi brazo alcanza apenas a rodear la delgada

línea de luna nueva que tiene tu cintura:

en el amor como agua de mar te has desatado:

mido apenas los ojos más extensos del cielo

y me inclino a tu boca para besar la tierra.

 

 Bibliography

Neruda, Pablo. Love poems. Translated by Donald D. Walsh. New Directions Paperbacks, 2008.

“Pablo in Love.” Southern Explorations. Accessed January 20, 2024. https://www.southernexplorations.com/pablo-love.

 

Abbey Villasis is a first-year Classics and English student at King’s College London with a passion for the Spanish language and Latin American culture. Born and raised in Toronto, she is of Ecuadorian descent and is a published poet.