Pablo Neruda-Poem XV

It pleases me your silence

because it is as though you are absent,

and you hear me from afar,

and my voice cannot touch you.


It seems

that your eyes had flown,

and that a kiss had sealed your mouth.

As all things are filled by my soul,

you emerge from such things

filled with my soul.

Butterfly of dreams,

you are like my soul

and you are like the word

melancholy.


It pleases me that you're still

and that it is like you are distant.

It is as though you are saddened,

butterfly of lullabies,

and you hear me from afar,

and my voice cannot reach you.

Let me grow still

with your silence,

and let me speak to you

with your silence;

it is clear like a light,

simple like a ring.

You are as the night,

silent and with eyes of stars.

Your silence is like a star's,

so far away and unadorned.



It pleases me your silence

because it is as though you are absent,

distant and anguished

as if you had died.

A word then,

a smile is enough.

And I am gladdened,

glad that it is not so.