He wrote this in 1959. I was 5. Half a century later, here it is again.
LXXXIX
When I die, I want your hands on my eyes:
I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands
to pass their freshness over me once more:
I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny.
I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep.
I want your ears still to hear the wind,
I want you to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together,
to continue to walk on the sand we walk on.
I want what I love to continue to live,
and you whom I love and sang above everything else
to continue to flourish, full-flowered:
so that you can reach everything my love directs you to,
so that my shadow can travel along in your hair,
so that everything can learn the reason for my song.
~Pablo Neruda
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4 comments:
Oh my, I do love this poem! The imagery is like a mournful caress, a gentle yearning.
Somehow I think I've read him before... hmmm.. I need to check.
Ooooo! This one's really good!
I'm so glad y'all have inspired me to enjoy poetry!
Neruda never fails to inspire!
"Mournful caress" is a good description...although I think that this poem is mournful in a way that is serious and melancholy, but not somber and pessimistic. It is ultimately about life's continuation.
If you really like Neruda, check out Red Poppy at www.redpoppy.net. It's a non-profit set up to publish Neruda's biography, create a documentary about him and translate his works into English. Also, to see our blog on Neruda's literary activism, click on "Journal."
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