Poet’s Corner

By Cian PierceThis issue, I wanted to share one of my favourite poems by the 20th century, Chilean, Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda. In “If you forget me,” Neruda emphasizes the need for reciprocity in his romance, though the subject of the poem isn’t completely clear, it could be his home country Chile, or his lover and third wife, Matilde Urrutia. Regardless, Neruda’s work will never be forgotten Si tú me olvidas  /  If you forget me  by Pablo Neruda (published 1963) 

Quiero que sepasuna cosa.Tú sabes cómo es esto:si mirola luna de cristal, la rama rojadel lento otoño en mi ventana,si tocojunto al fuegola impalpable cenizao el arrugado cuerpo de la leña,todo me lleva a ti,como si todo lo que existe,aromas, luz, metales,fueran pequeños barcos que naveganhacia las islas tuyas que me aguardan.Ahora bien,si poco a poco dejas de querermedejaré de quererte poco a poco.Si de prontome olvidasno me busques,que ya te habré olvidado.Si consideras largo y locoel viento de banderasque pasa por mi viday te decidesa dejarme a la orilladel corazón en que tengo raíces,piensaque en ese día,a esa horalevantaré los brazosy saldrán mis raícesa buscar otra tierra.Perosi cada día,cada horasientes que a mí estás destinadacon dulzura implacable.Si cada día subeuna flor a tus labios a buscarme,ay amor mío, ay mía,en mí todo ese fuego se repite,en mí nada se apaga ni se olvida,mi amor se nutre de tu amor, amada,y mientras vivas estará en tus brazossin salir de los míos.

I want you to knowone thing. You know how this is:if I lookat the crystal moon, at the red branchof the slow autumn at my window,if I touchnear the firethe impalpable ashor the wrinkled body of the log,everything carries me to you,as if everything that exists,aromas, light, metals,were little boatsthat sailtoward those isles of yours that wait for me. Well, now,if little by little you stop loving meI shall stop loving you little by little. If suddenlyyou forget medo not look for me,for I shall already have forgotten you. If you think it long and mad,the wind of bannersthat passes through my life,and you decideto leave me at the shoreof the heart where I have roots,rememberthat on that day,at that hour,I shall lift my armsand my roots will set offto seek another land. Butif each day,each hour,you feel that you are destined for mewith implacable sweetness,if each day a flowerclimbs up to your lips to seek me,ah my love, ah my own,in me all that fire is repeated,in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,my love feeds on your love, beloved,and as long as you live it will be in your armswithout leaving mine.