Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is a collection of romantic poems by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, first published in 1924 by Editorial Nascimento of Santiago, when Neruda was 19. It was Neruda's second published work, after Crepusculario and made his name as a poet.
“It was at that age
that poetry came in search of me.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
“I want to do with you what spring does with cherry trees.”
Quiero hacer contigo lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.
"Every Day You Play" (Juegas Todos las Días), XIV, p. 35.
Variant: I want
To do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.
Source: Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) (1924)
“Love is so short and forgetting is so long.”
Es tan corto el amor y tan largo el olvido.
"Tonight I Can Write" (Puedo Escribir), XX, p. 51.
Variant: Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Source: Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) (1924)
“Like them you are tall and taciturn, and you are sad, all at once, like a voyage.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
“sometimes i get up at dawn, and even my soul is wet.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
“Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.”
"Tonight I Can Write" (Puedo Escribir), XX, p. 49.
Source: Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) (1924)
¿Quién escribe tu nombre con letras de humo entre las estrellas del sur?
Ah déjame recordarte cómo eras entonces, cuando aún no existías.
"Every Day You Play" (Juegas Todos los Días), XIV, p. 35.
Source: Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) (1924)
“White bee, even when you are gone you buzz in my soul
You live again in time, slender and silent.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
“Every day you play with the light of the universe.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
“The birds of night peck at the first stars
that flash like my soul when I love you.”
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Source: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
