azurelunatic | Love Sonnet XVI

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Love Sonnet XVI

kaberett brought to my attention Pablo Neruda's Love Sonnet XVI, and I found this translation.

I love the handful of earth you are.
Because of its meadows, vast as a planet,
I have no other star. You are my replica
of the multiplying universe.

Your wide eyes are the only light I know
from the extinguished constellations;
your skin throbs like a streak
of a meteor through the rain.

your hips were that much of the moon for me;
your deep mouth and its delights, that much sun;
Your heart, fiery with its long red rays,

was that much ardent light, like honey in the shade.
So I pass across your burning form, kissing
you—compact and planetary, my dove, my globe.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is an excellent poem.

I studied Pablo Neruda in university, and found great solace in his words.

Sonnet XVII also strikes a chord for me:

"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.

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."

To me his greatest work is "Tonight I can write the saddest lines", which doesn't apply, but I'd feel remiss for not including it. https://allpoetry.com/Tonight-I-Can-Write-(The-Saddest-Lines)