"Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines" (also known as "Poem 20") is one of the most famous works by the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Published in 1924 as part of his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, the poem was written when Neruda was only 19 years old.
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines Summary
"Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines" (Poem XX) is one of Pablo Neruda’s most famous works from his 1924 collection, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. It is a haunting exploration of lost love, memory, and the painful process of moving on.
Here is a summary of the poem’s key themes and progression:
1. The Paradox of Writing
The speaker begins by stating he can write the "saddest lines" tonight, but the poem itself is a struggle. He uses the act of writing to try and capture the vastness of his grief. He looks at the "shattered" blue stars and feels the cold wind, using the night sky as a mirror for his internal loneliness.
2. The Memory of Possession
The heart of the poem lies in the repetition of the phrase "I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too." He recalls the nights he held her and kissed her "under the endless sky." He is mourning not just the woman, but the intimacy they once shared.
3. The Pain of Absence
The speaker's perspective shifts as he realizes she is gone. The night feels even more immense and empty without her. He admits:
The Struggle to Forget: He famously writes, "Love is so short, forgetting is so long." * The Changed Self: He notes that "we, of that time, are no longer the same." Both the lovers and the love itself have been altered by time and distance.
4. Acceptance and Finality
By the end of the poem, the speaker observes that she will belong to another, just as she did before his kisses. In a final attempt to reclaim his peace, he declares that this will be the last pain she causes him and these will be the last verses he writes for her.