Famous Love Poem

In this poem, the speaker talks about wanting his spouse to remember him after he passes, but he doesn’t want her to mourn his loss so much that she doesn’t continue living her life. Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet who lived from 1904-1973, and his first wife did not speak his native language of Spanish. This poem is made up of quatrains (four-line poems) and tercets (three-line poems).

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While I feel the love that he has for his beloved, I find the last sentence of the last stanza of the poem physically difficult to read. It just feels awkward. It is very touching and...

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Famous Poem

When I Die I Want Your Hands On My Eyes

Pablo Neruda By more Pablo Neruda

When I die I want your hands on my eyes:
I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands
to pass their freshness over me one more time
to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep,
I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind,
for you to smell the sea that we loved together
and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

I want for what I love to go on living
and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything,
for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

so that you reach all that my love orders for you,
so that my shadow passes through your hair,
so that they know by this the reason for my song.

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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
  • Teresa Salcedo by Teresa Salcedo
  • 1 year ago

While I feel the love that he has for his beloved, I find the last sentence of the last stanza of the poem physically difficult to read. It just feels awkward. It is very touching and beautiful, regardless. The obvious blend of emotion, passion, and intellect makes this one a classic.

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