You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs 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 arms
without leaving mine

~ Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda is perhaps the most politically motivated poet we’ve posted so far.  The son of a railway worker, Neruda was born at the turn of the 20th century in Chile and began publishing his work at the age of 13.  When he was a teenager he changed his name in memory of the Czechoslovak poet, Jan Neruda.

Some of his political activities involved the Chilean government placing him in charge of a number of honorary consulships in countries all over the world.  He joined the Republican movement during the Spanish Civil War, in both Spain and France, and his political and socially-themed works printed during this time had a great impact.

Later, Neruda was elected Senator of the Chilean Republic and also joined its communist party.  He even had to live underground and abroad for several years after speaking out against the country’s president.

It is said that over his lifetime, Neruda’s published works were “exceptionally extensive”.  One of his publications, Obras Completas, was republished in 1968 with a total of 3,237 pages.