Tonight I Can Write

by Pablo Neruda

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Summary

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Lines 1–4: The theme of distance is introduced right from the start. When the speaker says, “Tonight I can write the saddest lines,” he implies he was previously unable to do so. We soon find out that his deep sorrow over a lost lover has hindered him from writing about their relationship and its end. The speaker’s frequent contrast between past and present highlights his struggle to accept his current isolated state. Neruda’s straightforward language here, as throughout the poem, conveys the speaker’s genuine emotions. The sense of distance is revisited in the second and third lines, where he observes the stars trembling “in the distance.” These lines also introduce nature imagery, which becomes a key link to both his memories and his present feelings. The speaker reflects on the natural world, focusing on elements that remind him of his lost love and the cosmic nature of their bond. He begins writing at night, a time when darkness mirrors his mood. The night sky, filled with stars, offers no solace as they “are blue and shiver.” Their remoteness emphasizes his solitude. However, he finds some comfort in the night wind that “sings” as his verses will, describing the woman he loved.

Lines 5–10: Neruda repeats the opening line in the fifth line, followed by the speaker’s declaration of love for an unnamed woman. The staggered repetitions Neruda uses throughout the poem provide thematic cohesion. The speaker introduces the first detail of their relationship and hints at a possible reason for its end when he admits “sometimes she loved me too.” He then reminisces about being with her on “nights like this one.” The contrast between past nights and the present night underscores the change that has occurred, reinforcing his sense of loneliness. In this section, Neruda connects the speaker’s lover with nature, a technique he uses throughout the poem to depict the sensual nature of their relationship. In the eighth line, the speaker recalls kissing his love “again and again under the endless sky”—a sky as boundless as he had hoped their relationship would be. An ironic reversal occurs in line nine when the speaker states, “She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.” This may be a cynical remark on the fickle nature of love. However, the poignant, bittersweet lines that follow suggest that in this line, he is trying to distance himself from the memory of his love for her to ease his pain. Immediately, in the next line, he contradicts himself by admitting, “How could one not have loved her great still eyes.” The poem’s contradictions create a tension that mirrors the speaker’s desperate efforts to forget the past.

Lines 11–14: In line eleven, Neruda echoes his initial line once more, turning it into a mournful refrain. This repetition highlights the speaker's struggle to maintain emotional distance and convince himself that enough time has passed for him to reflect on his lost love with strength. However, these lines are “the saddest.” He finds himself unable to escape the agony of remembrance. The thought of not having her and feeling her absence becomes nearly unbearable. His solitude is intensified by “the immense night, still more immense without her.” Yet, the poetry he crafts serves to soothe his soul, “like dew to the pasture.”

Lines 15–18 : In line fifteen, the speaker resists the urge to dissect their relationship. What matters to him now is that “the night is starry and she is not with me,” unlike previous starry nights when she was by his side. “This is all” that remains significant to him. As he...

(This entire section contains 876 words.)

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hears someone singing in the distance and repeats “in the distance,” he underscores his solitude. No one is singing for him. Consequently, he confesses, “my soul is not satisfied.”

Lines 19–26: In these lines, the speaker conveys his desire to reunite with his love. His eyes and heart search for her, but he acknowledges, “she is not with me.” He recalls how this night is strikingly similar to those they once shared. Still, he realizes that they “are no longer the same.” He asserts that he no longer loves her, “that’s certain,” in an attempt to ease his pain, yet admits he loved her deeply in the past. Drawing a parallel to nature, he states that he had “tried to find the wind to touch her hearing” but failed. Now, he must accept that “she will be another’s.” He remembers her “bright” body that will be touched by someone else and her “infinite eyes” that will gaze upon a new lover.

Lines 27–32: The speaker reaffirms, “I no longer love her, that’s certain,” but immediately contradicts himself, revealing his self-deception by admitting, “but maybe I love her.” With a weary tone of resignation, he concludes, “love is so short, forgetting is so long.” His poem has become a painful endeavor in forgetting. In line twenty-nine, he explains that because this night is so reminiscent of the nights when he held her, he cannot forget. Thus, he repeats, “my soul is not satisfied.” In the final two lines, however, the speaker resolves to erase her memory to alleviate his pain, declaring that his verses (this poem) will be “the last verses that I write for her.”

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