|
[1] 2
Comment 12 of 12, added on June 27th, 2006 at 10:25 PM.
It's a sad and true poem. I always thought I understood it. I've had break ups before and felt longing for the past. But this last time, my girlfriend broke up with me. She began dating someone else. I tried to remain friends with her thinking she might come back. She did love me once. But it was near impossible to spend time with her. She wasn't the same person towards me. It was more as if I was her younger brother. I deleted her phone number after the last time we met. She only lives ten blocks from me but the gap between us is huge.
She's gone. I miss her. I want her back and I hate her. Neruda's poem perfectly catches the longing and the heartache as well as the mixed emotions one feels in this situation. Also, this is a great translation of it.
gabe from United States
Comment 11 of 12, added on June 20th, 2006 at 4:52 PM.
one afternoon I've found and read this poem (or maybe it found me,'cause I'm not a poetry fan).I was in a happy relationship back than, but still those verses made me cry."I never want to fill this kind of pain" - went trought my mind in that moment,went trought my heart while looking at my lover. Wish didn't came true. I will only say that it fealt just the way Neruda wrote. And from time to time, when the memories fill my heart with saddness, I open my little white book and reed the poem...in those starry nights Neruda is my only frend,the only one who understands...
thank you,Pablo
Chris from Croatia
Comment 10 of 12, added on May 21st, 2006 at 11:52 PM.
I have my own interpretation of this poem, but that is my own, and not what I am writing about. I read something when I was browsing through the comments on my favorite poem which moved me so strongly to respond to it. Comment 1 of 9, "true love can only wish for the beloved's happiness and freedom"....no. This is not human nature. Do not mistaken me, true love does not wish for the beloved's misfortune and harm, but true love DEFINITELY does not wish for the beloved's freedom....TRUE love always wishes that the beloved return, no matter how much time has passed. True love never wishes for the beloved's happiness, not with another as Neruda communicated in this poem, this will always evoke a painfully deep sadness. I have a very hard time believing that someone would wish that a TRUE love would be free and happy with another than with him/herself
Adam K. M. Jenkins from Canada
Comment 9 of 12, added on May 7th, 2006 at 3:10 PM.
neruda i always thought was too much about love .but this is one simple and nice poem.i could understand every lien as though it were from mien own head.am not sure what it evokes in me.im deeply saddened by these lines.i wish i knew why he wrote them too.
dipa from India
Comment 8 of 12, added on April 13th, 2006 at 6:05 AM.
Met a wonderful man 3 months before i married my boyfriend for 5 years...I had a relationhip with him that moved me,i fell in love with him coz i think he loved me in a different way...But i grew up in a very traditional and conservative environment, how i wished i can cancel my wedding day...,but that will hurt my family and the guy who waited for me for 5 years...So i have to give up the new guy and say goodbye...one night,He read me this poem over the phone (that time i didnt really understand what the message was,but i cried listening to him saying...Love is so short,forgetting is so long)...few days later he sent me a copy...and that hurt me so much,the poem was amazing,Pablo was so amazing...I wanted to run away and be with him,but it was too late for me...I'm married now...i can say that i regret not able to choose him,but i think God has other plans for me.
Maria from Philippines
Comment 7 of 12, added on November 17th, 2005 at 10:35 PM.
this poem has touched me a lot....."tonight i can write the saddest lines" is my favorite verse....it shows how much the pain and heartache the person in the poem feels...this poem makes me feel loved and sorrowfulness...it makes me think back to times where i was in that same position and helps me through the hard time of the love process!!!!!
kathy c. from China
Comment 6 of 12, added on October 13th, 2005 at 8:40 AM.
i listened to the tracks on the way to work one morning.. never imagined such words could move me to tears... and it still tugs my heart whenever i listen or read them.. these are my favourite lines..
"love is so short, forgetting them so long"
sad.. but just so honest and true.
lilredcherries from Singapore
Comment 5 of 12, added on September 29th, 2005 at 9:46 AM.
Neruda's brilliance lies in writing this simple poem on love which is a tribute to his beloved but one that is fraught with pain and longing. The contradictions regarding feelings for his beloved against the magical background of the starry night suggests the harmony that love can bring but at the same time not ensure the permanency of the beloved's presence and/or feelings.this is clearly a self-reflexive poem that comments on the art and act of writing as the beloved is a source of inspiration and jealosy as well since she has moved on leaving him to combat his emotions by himself.It is finally the act of writing that acts as a salvation and seems to contribute to the healing process. the poem remains an enigma but beautifuuly portrays the feelings of a young person who has experienced immensely the power of love.
Neeta Singh from India
Comment 4 of 12, added on August 19th, 2005 at 9:25 AM.
I agree that true love can only wish for the beloved's happiness and freedom. If I remember correctly, the lonliness eventually fades...I think the poem says it all..and so perfectly..as it captures the beloveds inner struggle..I loves her...then he will say I no longer love her..but a few lines later..he says I loved her and then I love her...This is the inner struggle when you go through something like this..inside you go back and forth..its amazing how he catches that..that I would not try to even write my own on the subject. I like the ending..because it shows he is going to move on..and he makes it a definite point to stop writing about her..In order to do so. The fact that he has to say it..shows how hard it is for him to do.. Its like he wants her to know he is moving on..otherwise he would not havse said anything..but I think the whole thing was a painful process..Just my interpretation...
Juliana from United States
Comment 3 of 12, added on August 17th, 2005 at 12:11 AM.
The longing and pineing of this poem is the perfect idea of a person with unrequited love. The image of the starry night makes his love a fluid beauty. I can see him writing this poem next to an open window on a clear night. He put into words the way I feel.
Jennifer Hoag from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2
|
Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.
It's a sad and true poem. I always thought I understood it. I've had break ups before and felt longing for the past. But this last time, my girlfriend broke up with me. She began dating someone else. I tried to remain friends with her thinking she might come back. She did love me once. But it was near impossible to spend time with her. She wasn't the same person towards me. It was more as if I was her younger brother. I deleted her phone number after the last time we met. She only lives ten blocks from me but the gap between us is huge.
She's gone. I miss her. I want her back and I hate her. Neruda's poem perfectly catches the longing and the heartache as well as the mixed emotions one feels in this situation. Also, this is a great translation of it.
gabe from United States