I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
Write, for instance: "The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance."
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
On nights like this, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her.
How could I not have loved her large, still eyes?
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.
To think I don't have her. To feel that I've lost her.
To hear the immense night, more immense without her.
And the poem falls to the soul as dew to grass.
What does it matter that my love couldn't keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me.
That's all. Far away, someone sings. Far away.
My soul is lost without her.
As if to bring her near, my eyes search for her.
My heart searches for her and she is not with me.
The same night that whitens the same trees.
We, we who were, we are the same no longer.
I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else's. She will be someone else's. As she once
belonged to my kisses.
Her voice, her light body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, true, but perhaps I love her.
Love is so short and oblivion so long.
Because on nights like this I held her in my arms,
my soul is lost without her.
Although this may be the last pain she causes me,
and this may be the last poem I write for her.
Notes
This is the English Translation of Puedo Escribir.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/14386-Pablo-Neruda-Puedo-Escribir
In a published book
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Comments
1 - 39 of 39
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Oh good G-d! That Is Poetry!!!!!!!
*Sigh*
If this is selfish, I'm sorry, but I sure hope this soul still somehow, somewhere wonders and wanders around this earth in this moment, in every moment, really living everywhere!
Love ya All~Ways,
~ Jan ~ -
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Pablo
From guest Regina (contact)
I think I'm in love with you...everything you write calls to me. I can hear you calling, wispering. I love this poem. Every love poem that I've read that Neruda has written has been beyond beautiful to me. I don't seem to reach satisfaction with his work...I only desire more and more. -
love it!!!
From guest taylor (contact)
this is the most beautiful poem i have ever read in my whole life time, it brings feelings that remind me of my own just in a different perspective. its nice when you can read something that you like so much but feel so much it makes you cry. taylor marie -
in conjunction
maybe a stirring to continue import not just beauty, "To hear the immense night, more immense without her" has emptiness with just maturity now and recollection echoes only "What does it matter that my love couldn't keep her.
The night is full of stars and she is not with me" with an abridgement of what could've made memories momentum if not rushable to just flood head now --
simply without right activity "I no longer love her, true, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched the wind to touch her ear" wrenches readiness at done.
it reminds me how child's whisper of squirrel has me know creature's proximity not sleepy voice of story teller and delicately I'd like to know not a shout to change it or have to but as woman calmly calls him home is compounded for birth, by no puns or punts of awareness
but I could kick myself too,
pre... -
This is the first time I have read this poem
Literally burst into tears
it's so beautiful -
My favourite poem of all time
From guest Keith J (contact)
This still evokes a strong emotion within me, every time that I read it, even though I have read it numerous times. To me, this is the function of poetry, to provoke an emotional response, and this one does it so well. -
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From guest faye (contact)
how about the interpretations of the poem?
Please would be polite!
Read the many comments below the poem by other people, it may help you. We are all volunteers on this site, we don't do homework.
Von - Oldpoetry Team -
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It sounds a lot better in Spanish, in my opinion
Providing you speak or understand Spanish. I get your point but not always possible on this site.
Von - Oldpoetry Team -
This is definitely not one of Neruda's better poems, but it does have some nuggets in it worth reading. And it's a sweet poem on the loss of love, one I wish I couldn't relate to, but unfortunately can.
The translation does seem a little off in places, or perhaps a little stilted, but translation is a tough thing to do. To stay true to the feeling of the poem or to the literal word choice? Each translator does his or her best, but it's often only an approximation of the original.
I read this version in the Neruda book that I own, and the translation of this poem there is by a different translator, so many of the lines are slightly different, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
The line that I most liked in my translation is different in this one, though. It is the fifth line from the end. In the translation by W.S. Merwin, the lines reads like this:
"Love is so short, forgetting is so long."
It's those last four words that I remembered, even months after I read the poem.
Forgetting really is so long...
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CRSTBL
From guest cristóbal (contact)
about translation, i m a spanish talker and i know this poem from memory, and the only think that in my opinion is not accurate is the verse: "my soul is lost without her", in spanish says: "mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido" witch is more like "my soul is unhappy for have lost her" i now is not a good tranlation,i m not a great (even good) english talker but it s closer to the original. sorry for my kindergarden english . from valparaíso chile, -
WOW!
From guest Korrie (contact)
Awww i was in tears .. "Love is so short and oblivion so long." Such an emmense poem xxx -
i love this. he must have really "loved" the girl.
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This is an amazing poem and so sad. I really enjoyed reading it.
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TONIGHT I CAN WRITE THE SADDEST LINES
From guest liz (contact)
THAT IS THE MOST AMAZING POEM IN THE WORLD. I HAVE A EX-BOYFRIEND THAT SENT IT TO ME ONCE...I NEVER FOUND ANOTHER ROMANTIC MAN LIKE THAT
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Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
I can't judge this poem in its original language, but in English, in the famous translation by W S Merwin, which guest poster Jer has quoted in full (though without the line breaks), it is one of the most passionate and beautiful love poems ever written. The translation by Puedo Escribir presented here might possibly be a little closer to the exact meaning of the original language version, but in every respect where it differs from the Merwin translation, I find it inferior to the latter as poetry in English. None of the differences suggest to me that Merwin was guilty of any serious inaccuracy, so I will stick with the Merwin version.
Funnily enough, Puedo Escribir uses the first line of the Merwin version as the title of his translation, so it seems he was aware of Merwin's version, and trying to better it, but if that's what he was trying to do, in my opinion he didn't succeed. -
DIFFERENT TRANSLATION
From guest rEYMOND_WILDRMR (contact)
WELL, I'VE READ ANOTHER TRANSLATION OF THIS POEM...THIS TRANSLATION IS DIFFERENT... BUT ALL IN ALL... I LOVE NERUDA'SPOEM... -
lost in translation
From guest Georgia (contact)
i adore this poem, i truly do, but i really dislike this translation of it. my favorite line "i no longer love her, that i know, but maybe i lover her" is changed, which i find...akin to sacreligion. but an amazing poem non the less
MOD MESSAGE
No translation can satisfy all tastes. I am sorry this does not live up to the beauty of the one you first read. Please call it a variation rather than a sacrilige
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great poem
From guest ar (contact)
i had a teary eyed when i was reading this poem. i know every single thing happend to my life make sense for me to learn from my mistake.
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To the Old man poet of Chile
From guest twilight star (contact)
he just described my unrequitted love...so passionately sad...=')) -
was that a tear
amazing the complexities of the universe and yet we still obsess on another. -
so sweet , O so deep and sweet
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This is the English Translation of Puedo Escribir?!?!?!?
From guest juanikiki (contact)
This is actually Pablo Neruda's most famous poem and its called Poema 20 or Poem Number 20. I know this cause I have studied Neruda in most of my Spanish classes since 7th grade im in my third year of college now. Oh and many artists have made this poem into a song also this is my favorite poem -
Magnificent piece of writing.
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wow. this spoke so deeply to me. i'm speechless.
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When will contemporary men express such emotions like these? Simple, crisp style! I can borrow a few of his techniques... i noticed the intermittent use of iambic pentameter...
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I feel really inadequate to speak about this work. this poem doesn't need to be campaigned for - any one who reads this and is not moved - well, they are one of many walking dead.
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need help with the tone for this poem
From guest sarah (contact)
can anyone help with the tone for this poem i kinda have idea but im not shure plz plz anyway ty -
This is very sad, indeed....I like it a lot though, I'm off to read the Spanish...although I'm rusty...
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We don't usually do people's homework or projects for them but here are a few suggestions.
First read the poem a few times and the comments underneath (try Andy's).
If you have some knowledge of Spanish try reading it in the author's own words using the links in the note box.
How do you feel after reading this the first time.
What do you think has just happened in the writer's life?
What are his feelings about this?
What does the repetition within the poem make you feel each time you encounter it?
How do you feel about the poem now, have your feelings changed? If so Why? What has the poet done to affect you? -
can anybody help me?
From guest empoy-ampoy (contact)
who can give me a literary critique about this poem. i need it for my project. can you? pls? -
My favorite poem of all time
From guest Calliope (contact)
This man is a tortured soul. He is a Cancerian, and they tend to have immense feelings. I learned he was a Cancer after my first time reading this poem in 9th grade. I guess it appealed to me because I too, am a Cancer. This poem is so hard to describe with words because they do not exist. I would have liked to meet him. The words are just gut-wrenching. There are people everywhere that have experienced this but few that could articulate the feelings this well. -
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He is the Ultimate Poet
From guest Ellen (contact)
All his poems are this beautiful. This man must have been deeper than the ocean. Even when he writes an ode to getting dressed you can cry from the beauty of it. I had a friend that read it to me in Spanish and he said we don't even have words in the English language to make it any of his poems as beautiful as they really are. -
simplemete genial
From guest erasmo (contact)
mi nombre es erasmo y tengo la fortuna de ser chileno, osea compatriota de neftalí reyes, y me alegra mucho que personas que no hablan español aprecien a nuestro poeta mas importante. por otro lado la tarduccion es muy buena, pero como lei en un comentario... la version original es muy profunda y llena de sentimientos. pero igual les agradesco mucho su aprecio hacia nuestra cultura -
immediately liked it the first time i read it
From guest louise (contact)
this is a beautiful poem!very straight forward!what's interesting about this piece is that the persona here is a man-a man in pain trying to convince himself that he no longer love the woman-trying to lessen his burden through writing.it's just amazing... pablo neruda was a genius! -
Simply perfect poem
From guest Lisa (contact)
The pain and agony of losing someone that was your greatest love can be shear misery. “I can write the saddest lines” is a perfect opening for this poem. You can easily imagine a man that has recently had his heart broken, sitting down to write in his journal how this pain has given him the sudden urge to poor the agony out of him onto paper. When life is wonderful and joyous, you have energy to move and take part in life as an active member of society. You would try not to sit down and waste time by writing about how happy you are, you want to be immersed in it. When you feel depressed and something so tremendous in your life has changed such as this, it is almost impossible not to cry and be consumed by your pain. This man was lonely and going through the steps that it takes to get over someone, so he sat and wrote it down so perfectly and simple. First, he speaks about how “the night is shattered and the blue stars shiver in the distance”. I think this is a metaphor for his broken heart and how his body is feeling. There is a physical illness that can overcome a persons’ body that has their heart broken. I think the body does feel more cold and empt, which might explain the shivering of the stars. Then the poem goes on to say how his relationship was. Perhaps one person tried really hard to make the love last, while the other sat on the side lines, either waiting for it to get better or simply giving up. This is a roller coaster process, a give and take relationship that was never in balance. “To hear the immense night, still more immense without her” is a perfect description of the loneliness that he feels. Of course he realize he is alone physically during the night, but when it sinks into his mind that she is not there with him, the loneliness of the night takes bites out of his heart. Then he writes how nothing really matters any more, “What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is shattered and she is not with me.” All he can think about is his loss of her and being alive without her makes his life meaningless. Then he sinks into his memories of her. He tries to make himself think that he is over her even though he tried so hard to keep her. He is only lying to himself to try to ease his suffering. After this, he says that she will be with another man, and it is killing him to imagine a scene of her belonging to another. So, again, he tries to tell himself he does not love her, but admits that, “love is short, forgetting is so long.” It takes a long time to release the pain of losing a lover and for most people the pain will never truly disappear completely. He makes it clear that they are over, but the repetition of how his soul is not satisfied, is one of the saddest lines ever written. -
Consumingly emotive...
From guest Andy (contact)
I was familiarised with this poem some time back and unfortunately for me, full of the vanity and cocksureness of youth, I mistook it for elaborate schmaltz. Shame on me! Having a little more living behind me now, I reacquainted myself with Neruda recently and it has been a truly joyous epiphany. It really does put into such vivid and achingly heartfelt prose the nature and paradoxes of love. I have to agree with the comments of others, this is not the best translation and for me it has to be read in Spanish (its worth learning Spanish just so you can read Neruda as it was intended!), but the sentiment still comes across. The lines "my sight tries to find her as if to bring her closer, my heart looks for her but she is not with me" and "my voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing" are doleful and full of longing, but its a pain he doesn't want any more. Who is he trying to convince in the last stanza, that this may be the last pain she causes him? He searches for closure, and maybe writing this helps him, but did he get it? I would doubt it. Such yearning love never truly dies and is of a strange nature. Even Neruda doesn't understand it (and thats the beauty of it for me), because in one instance he says "I no longer love her, but how much I loved her", and later says "I no longer love her, but perhaps I love her". Outstanding! -
spanish version
From guest jesus (contact)
the version in spanish is alot better, is deeper and smoother -
correction
From guest Jer (contact)
-poem was published in 1924, translated in 1969 I think I like This version better(sounds more romantic): 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. -
maudlin
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This poem hits me right between the eyes, I'm thoroughly entranced by the words of this poem. They made me get through the loss of my last love and therefore this poem has great significance to me. Thank you Pablo, forever you are in my mind.
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This is what we really call a love poem of all time.
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oh i loved this poem .. the first time i knew of it was when sixth pence none the richer made a song of it .. beautiful, terribly sad.
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pablo neruda is my favorite poet... and oh! this beautiful poem. I can't even... it's not for me to capture with words.
ah, one of the best neruda lines:
"Es tan corto el amor y tan largo el olvido"
beautiful. beautiful. beautiful. -
Jesus. This is so incredibly....I can't even word it. The sheer raw emotion, the pleading honesty, every single aspect of this write works its way deeper and deeper into your heart and psyche with each passing word. Definetely adding this to my favorites, I feel that this is a poem that can not only appeal to just about any reader, but will appeal to them numerous times over. Wow.
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this was good, I really liked it. It shows emotion and it's seems like it's truly heartfelt. It flowed well and well i just really liked it, good job and keep writting.
~*shannon marie*~ -
I recently have come across this wonderful poet and his sorrowful love poems are just gorgeous
love and light
blaze -
wonderful. breathtaking in its beauty and pain.
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Wow, this is a very great poem, it brought me
to my eyes. It was so beautiful, those intellegent words were perfect, It was the most beautiful poem I have ever read. 
Very Good Job and Keep up the Fantabulous work, which also means good work. 
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neruda is my favorite poet for a reason! o how well he captures the purest ofe emotions!
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This is a beautiful poem. I can understand the feeling in it. I have felt like this before too. But I could never put it into words. I love it.
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very unique...a bit long, but enjoyable to read...great!
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hit me again with more of your work, for this piece was excellent
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Great poem. You can feel the immense sense of sadness and loss. Very emotionally stirring.
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I am so mesmerized by the words of Pablo Neruda. I'm looking to comment on one of his sonnets, and when I find it, I'm writing the longest comment I can, because I love it so much.
This, however, is just as breathtaking. I actually found this poem somewhere not long ago. I am captivated by these words. He's so honest, and I think, "I wish I could write like this! He says the things I wish I could in ways I never even think of!" I am truly bowing to the wow.
I bet it's even prettier in Spanish. However, I can't read Spanish. I'm a French kid. -
Transferred from a duplication of this poem Von
Bluemisery on Dec 14, 2004, 8:57 p.m.
Kisses ain't promises and Gifts ain't contracts, 199 critiques. said:
WOW WOW this poem is so amazing I have read this poem millions of times it has just touched my heart in so many ways, that is just beautiful the way he describes pain itself mixed with so many emotions that you can actually be able to feel the poem running through your veins, even though in Spanish touched me a little bit more is an awesome translation and you can feel this words in any language because when a poem has such a strength like this one has no boundaries specially when it comes to the language, I love how he wrote “Love is so short and oblivion so long.” Is so true, this is what a true poetise is, being able to touched throughout time. And he will remain as one of the biggest in the end of time. (reply?) -
Wow, this is a beautiful poem- sad and well written
Thanks allpoetry for introducing me to a new poet, this was a lovely poem of his
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WOW WOW this poem is so amazing I have read this poem millions of times it has just touched my heart in so many ways, that is just beautiful the way he describes pain itself mixed with so many emotions that you can actually be able to feel the poem running through your veins, even though in Spanish touched me a little bit more is an awesome translation and you can feel these words in any language because when a poem has such a strength like this one has no boundaries specially when it comes to the language, I love how he wrote “Love is so short and oblivion so long.” Is so true, this is what a true poetise is, being able to touched throughout time. And he will remain as one of the biggest in the end of time.
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I saw Pablo, and immediately thought of the famous person of the same name, Pablo Picasso. Genuinely, and infinitely, expressive, of life - in its complexity, its distortion, but most truthful form. I felt Picasso in this poem...and a sparkle in my eye, from the twinkle of the starlight of this man's pain...of this man's passion. I appreciate, on behalf of this intuitve, graceful poet, the points you gave forth to promote his impression. It most certainly was well worth the gesture.
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'"The night is full of stars,
and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance."
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.'
{sigh} I so love this poem...I have a quote by Pablo on my author's page & a Friend has this one...it is stunning, always, no matter how many times I read it...he remains a Poet, for all Time...his imagery is so profound, so vivid...he is a Master of the painted word...his Life was his canvas...& now, we are left to admire his portraits...thank you for featuring Pablo...he deserves to be read... Wanda
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wow this has to be my favorite poem of pablo's, just his diction and his description of the woman, it's just beautiful...
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beautiful, captivating...discribes what happens so often when a love is lost...even after the love is over, it is remembered, and that is enough to grieve.
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