Senza problemi né orgoglio…

Today is Stefano’s birthday. After the scare I gave him a few days ago, I thought I’d better come up with something good (!), and this lovely sonnet (Italian and English translations provided) by Pablo Neruda fits the bill perfectly: 

 

Non t’amo come se fossi rosa di sale, topazio

o freccia di garofani che propagano il fuoco:

t’amo come si amano certe cose oscure,

segretamente, tra l’ombra e l’anima.

 

T’amo come la pianta che non fiorisce e reca

dentro di sé, nascosta, la luce di quei fiori;

grazie al tuo amore vive oscuro nel mio corpo

il concentrato aroma che ascese dalla terra.

 

T’amo senza sapere come, né quando, né da dove,

t’amo direttamente senza problemi né orgoglio:

così ti amo perché non so amare altrimenti

che così, in questo modo in cui non sono e non sei,

così vicino che la tua mano sul mio petto è mia,

così vicino che si chiudono i tuoi occhi col mio sonno.

***

I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz

or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:

I love you as certain dark things are loved,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

 

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries

hidden within itself the light of those flowers,

and thanks to your love, darkly in my body

lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

 

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you simply, without problems or pride:

I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,

so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,

so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

4 Comments

  1. What a beautiful poem Margarets…it is one I have not read before…and I loved it. Oh! to be able to write like that. I have been saddened to read of an increase in some of your ‘stats’ but I am sure you will soon have them descending once again. I am sorry to have missed the ‘post’ written at the time but am always so very busy. I sincerely wish you very good continuous health and ‘lots of rainbows’ I shall try to keep up with everyone more.
    Sincere good wishes.
    Susie Hemingway

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