With chaste heart, and pure
eyes
I celebrate you, my beauty,
restraining my blood
so that the line
surges and follows
your contour,
and you bed yourself in my verse,
as in woodland, or wave-spume:
earth's perfume,
sea's music.
Nakedly beautiful,
whether it is your feet, arching
at a primal touch
of sound or breeze,
or your ears,
tiny spiral shells
from the splendour of America's oceans.
Your breasts also,
of equal fullness, overflowing
with the living light
and, yes,
winged
your eyelids of silken corn
that disclose
or enclose
the deep twin landscapes of your eyes.
The line of your back
separating you
falls away into paler regions
then surges
to the smooth hemispheres
of an apple,
and goes splitting
your loveliness
into two pillars
of burnt gold, pure alabaster,
to be lost in the twin clusters of your feet,
from which, once more, lifts and takes fire
the double tree of your symmetry:
flower of fire, open circle of candles,
swollen fruit raised
over the meeting of earth and ocean.
Your body - from what substances
agate, quartz, ears of wheat,
did it flow, was it gathered,
rising like bread
in the warmth,
and signalling hills
silvered,
valleys of a single petal, sweetnesses
of velvet depth,
until the pure, fine, form of woman
thickened
and rested there?
It is not so much light that falls
over the world
extended by your body
its suffocating snow,
as brightness, pouring itself out of you,
as if you were
burning inside.
Under your skin the moon is alive.
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Comments
1 - 11 of 11
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One of my favorites by Neruda.
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Beauty
this is something superemotional specially these lines...
"The line of your back
separating you
falls away into paler regions"
this is a metaphysical beauti i suppose.
Neruda is a rhyme master -
always a huge lover of neruda....i wanted to learn spanish because of being introduced to a bilingual edition of his poetry....such a wealth of intelligence, surrealism, passion, observation of both nature and soceity...a man worthy indeed!
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Does anyone know the spanish version? If there's any?
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Not the usual love poem. I really enjoyed this. You avoided the usual love poem cliches. I really liked the loose form, it's rhythmic and it flows very nicely. Great job. The last line made me tear up a little bit.
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this was so fully of emotion and very very descriptive, whish was great. it flows together greatly, and just portrays such beautiful emoiton. great job, keep it up
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This is absolutely divine! It's sooooo beautiful!
So... lyrical!
The imagery is superb!
WOW!
Gypsybelle. -
Great write.I love how much description you used here. It keeps the reader in perfect visualization. It is also one of the greatest love/adoring poems I've ever read. Great work keep it up.
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Very descriptive. So much feeling. Great job!
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I agree with sundance, beautiful peice.
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This is so wonderful, reading this was divine. It's as smooth as silk and the last line has such definition it guarantess a 'weak at the knees' feeling.
this workk of Neruda evokes absolutely wonderful images, feelings and emotions. Wow!
Von
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