Pablo NerudaI don’t love you as if you were a rose Translated by Mark Eisner

Amabel Jeon, Eddie Smintina, Jasmine Ye, Shruti Karanth

One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII (Mañana)

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:I love you as one loves certain obscure things,secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carriesthe light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arosefrom the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,I love you directly without problems or pride:I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,except in this form in which I am not nor are you,so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

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The Sonnet

● Shakespearean Sonnets o Themes of passage of time, love, beauty and mortalityo Three quatrains, One Couplet (14 lines total)o Iambic Pentameter

● Neruda’s One Hundred Love Sonnetso Focused on theme of loveo Two quatrains, One six-line stanza

Neruda’s Style

● One Hundred Love Sonnetso Neruda does not idealize beauty and loveo Neruda’s work began to move away from the

highly political stance it had taken during the 1930s

o Renowned for use of sensual and erotic imagery today

Context

● 1952 - Return from exile to Chile● 1955-1957 - Published One Hundred Love

Sonnets ● 1955 - Secret affair with Matilde Urrutia● Most accomplished work after returning from exile● Celebrates his love for Urritia

Matilde Urrutia

● Third wife of Neruda● Public Singer; dropped everything for the

marriage● 1949: Hired by Neruda when she caught his

attention at a concert in Santiago ● 1955: Delia legally leaves Neruda and Matilde

transforms from a mistress living in a secret to Neruda’s wife

● Stayed by his side even when he cheated on her with her niece

● Married in 1966

Their Secret Love Affair

● La Chascona: house in Santiago which served as a secret den for two to hide from the public

● Two Faced Urrutia:o Public Singero Neruda’s Lover

Dominant Effect

Neruda uses repetition, sensory

details, and a gradual shift from

flower imagery to a lack of imagery

to emphasize the simplistic nature of

love.

Line 1-2

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,

or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:

Flower Imagery!

Line 3-4

I love you as one loves certain obscure things,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

DarkImagery!

Line 5-6

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

the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,

Flower Imagery!

Line 7-8

and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose

from the earth lives dimly in my body.

SensoryImagery!

Line 9-10

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

I love you directly without problems or pride:

Anaphora!(Repetition)

Line 11-12

I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,

except in this form in which I am not nor are you

Repetition!

Line 13-14

so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,

so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

Anaphora and Sensory Imagery!

Summary of Techniques and Effects

● Repetition (more specifically- anaphora)● Sensory Imagery● Shift from flower imagery to no imagery

● Highlights the simplistic nature of love● Emphasizes that love is an internal/personal

feeling● Shifts away from the traditional love poem-

shows how his love is unique

Works Cited

“Biography of Pablo Neruda.” Chile Culture. Chile Culture Society, n.d. Web. 18. Nov. 2014

Eirmann, Katherena. "100 Love Poems, Poets and Poetry at Aspirennies.com." 100 Love Poems, Poets and Poetry at

Aspirennies.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

"Great Love Poems by Pablo Neruda ." AngelFire. AngelFire, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

"Sonnet XVII: I Do Not Love You as If You Were Brine-rose, Topaz." Famous Poems, Famous Poets. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov.

2014.