Neruda Poems

For Those in Need of Poetry

Poetry does not belong to those who write it, but to those who need it.~Pablo Neruda

A blank page is the bane of all writers.
Examples that are written are blighters.
Frustration would stay.
A word that escapes you for the moment
to capture a perception, you lament.
You should step away.

It has been said that good poetry heal;
it expresses how

Pablo Neruda in English Translations including 'Religion in the East'

These are English translations of Spanish poems by Pablo Neruda. 

Religión en el Este (“Religion in the East”)
by Pablo Neruda
translation by Michael R. Burch

for Tom Merrill

I realized in Rangoon:
the gods were our enemies
as much as God;
alabaster gods elongated like white whales;
gilded gods gleaming like golden ears of corn;
serpentine gods coiling around the crime of being

Pablo Neruda: English translation of 'Machu Picchu'

The Heights of Machu Picchu, Canto VIII
by Pablo Neruda
translation by Michael R. Burch

Ascend with me, my American love!

Let’s kiss these mysterious stones together!

The Urubamba’s torrential silver
lures pollen to fly from its golden chalice
while above this canyon’s unbroken silence
everything soars: the climbing grapevines,
the shopworn plants, each inflexible garland.

Come, elfin life, test your wings above the earth,
test

A Picnic With Pablo Neruda

Four legs quiver
like clumsy cabrioles
striking smooth gray rivers
of zig-zag sidewalk barrios
in rhythm with happy shivers
syncopated on a muffled drum
as we talk and stroll

On our way
hand-in-hand
we persuade and pretend
this day away
taunting and cajoling to demand
laughing “hide and seeking”
chasing and skedaddling
poking and peeking
like cuddly pandas
or canoodling otters
splashing and clambering

We roll and meander
impetuously twiddling all the way
atop gregarious

Emagi Neruda Love Sonnet

P Neruda 100 love sonnets xvii

        C
         ***
            abab cdcd efef gg
                               XVIII

Poem To Pablo Neruda

Captain of the Farthest Islands
living poem between my prose
that each one was exchanged for roses
with moonlight and roving mornings


You loved as few have loved
with the madness of sea and clear lyrics
the greatest poet that will remain in us
like him in the calm portrayed...


The island was light and your horizon
was a witness to your fate, luck
let

Neruda S Great Tablecloth

at the first encounter, i thought, that he stole my mother’s tablecloth,
and called it Great while she turned the flour into bread,

after, i thought, what if they were lovers, and shared the same tablecloth
while my father was sweating in his fields, and she was sipping wine from her grapes
when he wrote songs of despair, as

Poem Pablo Neruda

Captain of the most distant islands
living poem among my proses
that each one was exchanging for roses
with moonlight and wandering mornings

II
You loved as few have loved
with sea madness and clear lyrics
the greatest poet that will remain in us
as he in the calm portrayed...

III
The island was your light and your horizon
was a witness to your fate, luck
let

From

our dying kiss
two babies were born
with flying wings

Questioning Neruda

why yellow flowers
        Are so afraid of the wind...?
        And the ripe fruits
        so afraid of slingshots... ?

        why flowers don't
      

Nicanor Parra Sandoval Translation: Advice To Young Poets

Advice to Young Poets
by Nicanor Parra Sandoval
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Youngsters,
write however you will
in your preferred style.
Too much blood flowed under the bridge
for me to believe
there’s just one acceptable path.
In poetry everything’s permitted.

Originally published by Setu



Ivy
by Michael R. Burch

“Van trepando en mi viejo dolor como las yedras.” – Pablo Neruda
“They climb on my old

Sonet For Neruda

Captain of the most distant islands
         living poem among my prose
         that each one was exchanging for roses
         with the moonlight and wandering mornings

       

Pablo Neruda Translation: Every Day You Play

Every Day You Play
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Every day you play with Infinity’s rays.
Exquisite visitor, you arrive with the flowers and the water.
You are vastly more than this immaculate head I clasp tightly
like a cornucopia, every day, between my hands ...



My Dog Died
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My dog died;
so

Pablo Neruda Translations

I love you only because I love you
by Pablo Neruda
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I love you only because I love you;
I am torn between loving and not loving you,
Between apathy and desire.
My heart vacillates between ice and fire.

I love you only because you’re the one I love;
I hate you deeply, but hatred
Bends me all

As Neruda Once Said

Lovers mix feelings
between kisses, beds
and bread ...
your presence
in front of me
 would be enough
to be blessed
forever.
If i could only be the sailor.
of your love... if i were
one of those who arrive
kiss and depart.
That would be enough for me ...!

• Short Neruda Poems
• Famous Neruda Poems
• Best Neruda Poems
• Read Neruda Poems
• Long Neruda Poems
• Neruda Quotes