[422] Sonnet XVII: Love

Guest poem submitted by Sudha Shastri, <shastri@>:

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.

	-- Pablo Neruda

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

An Italian sonnet (Petrarchan form), where the 14 lines are divided as 8
(octave) + 6 (sestet). Usually this form is characterised by a 'turn' in the
thought after the octave, but here the divide seems to be rather differently
achieved. Almost (?) ironical the way the octave elaborately labours the ways of
loving ( reminds me of 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' ) and the
sestet tersely dismisses the possibility of a successful description of the
emotion.

As for theme, well, it carries echoes and echoes from mostly Renaissance poetry.
The octave in particular reminds me of Viola's description of her love in
'Twelfth Night' - the oft-quoted 'Patience on a monument' speech.

Also, I wonder if the anaphora helps.

S Shastri.

[PS:

'Anaphora' - repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive
phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic
effect <Lincoln's "we cannot dedicate--we cannot
consecrate--we                      cannot hallow--this ground" is an example>

	-- Merriam-Webster, www.m-w.com

- t.]

From: "Breyman, Terri L" <Terri.Breyman@>

Hello,

My name is Terri Breyman.  I am the resource teacher for the online campus
for Fairfax County Public Schools.  We are creating online courses for our
students.  The courses are password protected and only registered students
have access to our online courses.  We would like permission to link to your
site for our English 10 course. 
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/422.html
thank you,
terri breyman

e-Learning Resource Teacher
Instructional Technology Services
Instructional Services Department
Chapel Square Center
4414 Holborn Ave.
Annandale, Virginia  22003
Phone 703-503-7774

From: "Laurie Lucchina" <llucchina@>

Lovely!