By Pablo Neruda Date: 11 September 1999
Two happy lovers make one bread
or single moondrop in the grass.
Walking, they cast two shadows that flow together;
Waking, they leave one sun empty in their bed.
Of all the possible truths, they chose the day;
they held it, not with ropes but with an aroma.
They did not shred the peace, they did not shatter words;
their happiness is a transparent tower.
The air and wine accompany the lovers.
The night delights them with its joyous petals.
They have a right to all the carnations.
Two happy lovers, without an ending, with no death,
they are born, they die, many times while they live!
They have the eternal life of the Natural.
I DO NOT LOVE YOU - Sonnet by Pablo Neruda
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fireshoots 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 straight forwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way.
that this; where I do 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.