If suddenly you do not exist,
if suddenly you no longer live,
I shall live on.
I do not dare,
I do not dare to write it,
if you die.
I shall live on.
For where a man has no voice,
there, my voice.
Where blacks are beaten,
I cannot be dead.
When my brothers go to prison
I shall go with them.
When victory,
not my victory,
but the great victory comes,
even though I am mute I must speak;
I shall see it come even
though I am blind.
No, forgive me.
If you no longer live,
if you, beloved, my love,
if you have died,
all the leaves will fall in my breast,
it will rain on my soul night and day,
the snow will burn my heart,
I shall walk with frost and fire and death and snow,
my feet will want to walk to where you are sleeping, but
I shall stay alive,
because above all things
you wanted me indomitable,
and, my love, because you know that I am not only a man
but all mankind.
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Comments
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Dead Woman has definitely an universal concept on love,life and pride.A broken heart,a lost love ,a dead woman,a mute heart...and the poet says that he's stay alive.
I'm not sure but I think this was written around second world war which explains the 6 stanza. -
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Truly Great
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Not his best...
...but tastes are funny things and emotions even funnier.
Nice poem Pablito!
Poet's Manual Rule #65 clearly states...
"Do not take yourself so G-- D---- seriously!"
If you only want us to write what you want to hear,
go sit in front of the mirror and get a yapping.
You had some G-- D-----d nerve to erase my comment.
You make it sound like Neruda never told or heard a joke in his life.
I put the Mal Occhio on you!
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brave and honest and morally correct. i wish we were all like that.
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Writing good (sic)
From guest Vanya Karamazov (contact)
Doesn't it bother you to leave comments that border on illiteracy? You are offering homage, or, more hypocritically, criticism to an author - at least your comments should attempt some sort of cohesion. It's a violation of the reason poetry is important to humanity.
It's downright embarassing. And, in my opinion, a degradation of the emotions you obviously felt when you read the poem - which means it's a degradation of the integrity and intent of both you and Neruda. Honest mistakes are permissible; laziness is not. -
The last lines makes me think.It definitely gives an universal feeling to the whole poem.
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wooooooooowwwwww i love this poem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From guest Kayla Urbanovsky (contact)
WOW thats a really good poem i like it alot. i have read some of your other poems and so far i love you!!!!!!!!!!
MOD MESSAGE
Alas Neruda has been dead for decades but, on his behalf, thank you. -
Inspiring me all along.....Why did i read this before.....
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Dead woman
To me it meant a "truth" We all do live on when we loose
a beloved.We curse death for taking what is beloved
to us, but we must continue on, even if we feel at times
like 'joining'death.Victory is able to continue on
with living.It must be what is called our Spirit Aries -
Dead Woman Poem
From guest Rosemary Patton (contact)
I love this poem. Probably because Jamie (Alan Rickman) recites it to Nina, his love. He recently died and she misses him with all her heart. So badly that she has stopped living herself. Jaime comes back and is the worst ghost ever. He brings all his bodies and torments her with a suffocating presence, but in a touching, loving way. He tells her that he sees her from the other side and she says she can hear him tell her to lock the door, brush your teeth. Sweet-loving reminders, sometimes spoken in spanish. When Nina finds love on this side - with a live man, she feels guilty. However when she finally confronts Jaime that she needs more, he lovingly recites this poem to her in spanish. She understands that he is saying goodbye and that she must love again. He Truly, Madly, Deeply loved her. Best part of the movie. -
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Wow. I really really like this. There's so many ways to take this, not just as his dead lover, but also as a rebirth, or whatever. Definitely a favorite
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the whole poem
From guest hope cherrington (contact)
it is about one person coming to terms with death nothing more nothing less. this man has lost the one he lives and he is hurting and he wants to be with her but he knows that no matter how much he is hurting he will go on living -
Live on...
A very brave heart to speak the hard truth to one he loves: If you die, I will go on. But a heart that truly loves would want just that: for the object of love to continue. He later shows the depth of heartbreak he would suffer,"it will rain on my soul night and day", but he has the comfort of that knowledge we all have, we are more than this physical world, we DO go on...and so does the love we carry. -
Breathtaking
This piece was so beautiful. The imagery, descriptiveness, and flow of Pablo's excellently chosen words were fantastic. It is really terrible indeed, that we must miss this poet so talented, but at least his poetry lies in the archives, ready to be revealed to hungry eyes. -
Why is it Called "Dead Woman"
Is the narrator's voice that of a woman? I think so! Brilliant poem; I'm glad soccer2Katie pointed this out. -
I thought that Neruda was writing about his frustration of witnessing all of the deaths during the spanish civil war. He must do all that he can because he is alive and one person can make a difference in such a political struggle.
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