By Pablo Neruda
Submitted by sarahsehee
Date: 2001 Oct 03
Comment on this Work
[[2001.10.03.22.28.31836]]

Love sonnet 17

Love sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations that propagate fire;
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries within 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 simply, without complexities or pride;
I love you this way because I know no other way

but this: in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep, it is your eyes that close.