Summary of 'Tonight I can Write the Saddest Lines' by Pablo Neruda

Tonight I can Write the Saddest Lines

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda is a much acclaimed writer from Chile. This poem was written in Spanish in 1924 and later translated into English in 1969. This poem is celebrated for its imagery and symbols to present the pain of jilted lover. It is about memories of a lost love and the pain they can cause. Throughout the poem the speaker recalls the details of his love that is now broken. He continually juxtaposes the past with his ladylove with the loneliness he experiences in the present. It is written in the style of monologue with the repetition of the line “Tonight I can write the saddest lines” three times to emphasise his sorrow.

             The first line of the poem leaves the readers with a curiosity to know the reason for the poet’s sadness. The images like shattered night and shivering of the blue stars in the distance indicate his melancholic mood. He decides to write a poem at night which brings a dark imagery and his sad mood. The shattered night and the shivering stars project the turmoil the poet experiences in his life. The night wind becomes his companion as it revolves in the sky and sings. Moreover the night enables him to write which he could not write till then. He confesses that he loved her and the unnamed woman also loved him for some time. His memory takes him back to a similar night when he held her in his arm. He admits that he was in love with her deeply and says that her great still eyes will make anyone to fall in love with her.

                 The writer feels that he can write the saddest lines that night as he knows that she is no longer with him. Without her the night seems to be immensely lonely. But his writing replenishes his soul like dew drops to the pasture. He feels upset that in spite of everything, his love could not have her and without her his soul is lost. The night is traumatized as she is not with him. He hears someone singing in the distance, which also indicates that he is alone as he could hear it from the distance. Now he mentions his longing to get reunited with his ladylove as; his sight searches for her, to go to her and his heart too looks for her. Again he mentions that night is similar to the other night when they were together. Suddenly he declares that he does not love her but he loved her greatly earlier. He even tried to send the wind to touch her hearing. But she is another’s now and to express his pain of losing her, the poet states it that her voice, body and infinite eyes will be another’s. Again he declares that he no longer loves her but contradicts himself by stating that he may love her. His words, love is short but forgetting is long, reveals his love for her. The night leaves him with the memory of his ladylove and her loss leaves his soul disturbed. He concludes the poem with a determination that this is the last pain she gives him and this is the last poem he writes for her. He hopes that with this painful attempt of writing he wishes to get out of her memory.