Shruti MehtaWe are so grateful to all our readers who have given unconditional love that impelled us to spread our wings and probe many new themes. The poem that we put up on the Teachers day fetched us a massive response. This left us overwhelmed. Today, we present to you Don’t go far off: the pain of love to add to our collection of 15 days of fabulous poetries. The poem is the work of the much-adored Pablo Neruda.
This is not just an addiction to our love bank, but also a symbol that our readers and their responses mean the absolute world to us. Now keeping our emotions in check, let us take a glance at the poet, his works, and his life.
Life of Pablo Neruda
His birth name was Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. Ricardo set his foot on earth on 12 July 1904 in Parral Chile. The reigning poet used Pablo Neruda as his pen name. But later in his life, he legalized the name, Pablo Neruda. He was the master of a variety of writing styles. His reigns were widespread from surrealist poems, passionate love poems to historical epics, and from overtly political manifestos to prose biography. What talent!
Pablo Neruda’s father was not in favor of his writings. But this did not deter his will to write. But, he received encouragement from others, enough to feel motivated. His first poem was published when he was at the tender age of 13. His works graced the people not only in English but also in Spanish and French. He has left his imprints on so many fields and is considered as the National Poet of Chile, after his birthplace.
At the age of 16, he moved to Santiago to study French and later emerged as a famous writer. His work ‘Twenty love poems and A desperate song’ became a topic of controversy owing to its genre of eroticism and people questioned it as he was of a very young age.
He was an influence on politics as well and contested for the position of the senator. His works also won him the International Peace Prize, Lenin Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Literature. He was detected with cancer and breathed his last on 23rd September 1973.
We stand in awe of him and his works. Introducing you all with one of Pablo Neruda’s finest works. We hope that our excitement is contagious; brace yourselves to read a rare gem without any further ado.
Interested in Hindi poems? Check out our Teacher’s Day Tribute! शिक्षक महान हैं – a Teachers Day poem
Don’t go far off
Don’t go far off, not even for a day, because —
because — I don’t know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.
Don’t leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.
Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don’t leave me for a second, my dearest,
because in that moment you’ll have gone so far
I’ll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?
Don’t go far off by Pablo Neruda theme
Our probing on the poem
The poet is satisfied with his life in this poem Don’t Go Far Off. But all of a sudden, the change of events brings them to such a juncture of life where his lover wants to part ways with him. The poet is in sorrow and pleads her not to leave. That he wouldn’t be able to bear the pain. His world revolves around her. But he does not know how to convey that he would cease to exist without her. The man’s world would become like a moonless sky, where the stars would give him the faint hope that she might return. If she would leave him, he would still wait for her till eternity.
Pablo Neruda in his poem Don’t Go Far Off, tries to say that each passing minute becomes difficult for him to stay without his love. She is like his oxygen; breathing without her is like a task. If she would not hold his hand in this journey of life, he would be lost and living like a dead person. His heart would die each day in anguish and in yearning to be with her again.
The poet has waited enough for love with each breath that has left his body. His wishes are very simple. The desire to be with her and have her attention are the urges of his heart. He hopes that he is enough for her and that she never takes her gaze off him, always looking at him with her love-filled eyes. His heart desires to always make her feel wanted and cherished, never take her for granted, or make her feel alone. He would willingly do all of it if she doesn’t leave his hand and desert him.
The poet dares to visualize the moment when he wouldn’t have her at all. He shudders even at the thought of it. His life without her is like a living hell. She is his heaven, his solace. He would gladly follow her anywhere she would go and ask her to come back to his arms where she belongs. If she would deny, he would respect her wish but that breath would be his very last one, after capturing her in his eyes and heart forever.
Don’t Go Far Off Poem Analysis
Our perspective on Pablo Neruda’s poem
I LOVE YOU: a poem crafted with passion
The poem is heart touching. There is not always a happily ever after in every love story. Some stories have the gut-wrenching separation too. The lovers who dream to spend their lives together and be the better halves of each other might face the rocky phase of separation and heartbreak as well.
Don’t Go Far Off by Palo Neruda is designed so beautifully that we feel shivers down our spine. The sweet love is something everyone might wish to experience once in a lifetime even if it’s for a spur of a moment. But what happens when two individuals do get an opportunity to live these beautiful moments yet are separated by the circumstances? The sense of numbing pain is marvelously poured into the poem.
Some silly arguments or difference of opinion is what keeps a relationship alive and rejuvenated like old times. Those small gestures and playful eye winks are some moments to behold. They are memories of a lifetime. But when the arguments turn into fights and ego starts mattering more than love, the separation is bound to happen. It is like destruction that’s inevitable.
The poet pleads with her not to go far off or else he wouldn’t be able to make it without her. She is his heartbeat. Without having her close by, his heart would stop beating. This is the pain of love, the longing of love. Breathtaking isn’t it? We have felt the torment, the struggle of love in this poem. So much, that it now has a special place in our hearts.
This is what this amazing poem by Pablo Neruda signifies. We hope our that none of us have to part ways with our loved ones. Shower us with your love and support by subscribing to lovesmitten.com and brace yourselves for further mind-boggling love-touched content.
