(12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973 / Parral / Chile)

poet Pablo Neruda
#4 on top 500 poets
User Rating:
6.5 / 10
( 114 votes )
What do you think this poem is about?

‘Perhaps not to be is to be without your being.’

Perhaps not to be is to be without your being,
without your going, that cuts noon light
like a blue flower, without your passing
later through fog and stones,
without the torch you lift in your hand
that others may not see as golden,
that perhaps no one believed blossomed
the glowing origin of the rose,
without, in the end, your being, your coming
suddenly, inspiringly, to know my life,
blaze of the rose-tree, wheat of the breeze:
and it follows that I am, because you are:
it follows from ‘you are’, that I am, and we:
and, because of love, you will, I will,
We will, come to be.

Submitted: Monday, March 22, 2010

Comments about this poem (‘Perhaps not to be is to be without your being.’ by Pablo Neruda )

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  • Erika Nath (4/14/2013 12:31:00 PM)

    And beauty is flowing between the lines, through each and every word!

    1 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • George Chatzimichelakis (2/1/2013 11:56:00 AM)

    Love is fire!
    And Pablo knows how to fun the flames!

    2 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Mary Bradley (12/2/2012 10:28:00 AM)

    Without Love I would be nothing.

    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Larra Papazian (11/1/2012 6:26:00 AM)

    Awesome, adorable one!

    6 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Oluchi Michael (3/30/2012 4:41:00 AM)

    Very deep and sincere.

    6 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • Blake Crawford (2/27/2012 9:13:00 AM)

    Then tell me your number Desiree, and i will gladly read the poem to you.

    15 person liked.
    		7 person did not like.
  • Blake Crawford (2/27/2012 9:13:00 AM)

    Then tell me your number Desiree, and i will gladly read the poem to you.

    6 person liked.
    		9 person did not like.
  • Desiree Edwards (2/22/2012 8:45:00 PM)

    I would love to hear this poem read aloud. I would like to know if it sounds the same in the minds of others as it does in mine. Lovely poem!

    9 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • Manuj K. Das (2/10/2012 8:17:00 PM)

    favulous poem... I love it very much.

    4 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • Terrance Henry (1/31/2012 9:08:00 PM)

    so real so loving. AH I wish I could express myself so.

    12 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
Read all 15 comments »

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