Tonight I Can Write - A poem by Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda - Tonight I Can Write

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.


translated by W.S. Merwin

Added: on November 16th, 2008 at 9:49 PM | Viewed: 42758 times | Comments (16)

Tonight I Can Write - Comments and Information
Poet: Pablo Neruda Poem: Tonight I Can Write Comment 16 of 16, added on February 20th, 2009 at 3:45 PM. Omg, Maria when I read your comment I started crying!! That is soo sad that you might have found your one true love and you were married to someone else!!! But, maybe God does have a bigger plan for you. Hope everything workds out! Holly-Ann from United States Comment 15 of 16, added on January 3rd, 2009 at 8:09 AM. ..this poem tells us how hard to forget a person who was once the most important person in your life..this poem is really good for it tells a story that really happens in the real life.. forgetting is a very long process..and what hurts most is that you'll not totally forget something for there will always be things that will remind you of the past.. joanne from Philippines Comment 14 of 16, added on November 16th, 2008 at 9:49 PM. I dint understand the poem first time i read..than i go through again n again and i find the poem is interesting..neruda get the attention of thousand of readers..he is simply the best poet ever! Shazz from Malaysia More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Tonight I Can Write, has received 16 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Pablo Neruda with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info
Tonight I Can Write Last read: 2010-03-22 06:15:23 Viewed 42758 times. Added on November 16th, 2008 at 9:49 PM.

Neruda Info
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