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Summary
“Here I Love You” is a poem written by Pablo Neruda. He was a Chilean (inhabitant of Chile) poet and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. The speaker in this poem loves his departed beloved. He passionately recalls, the sweet moments he spent in her company. The sadness of separation is centralized by the poet’s skillful handling of “here” and “there” by using two sets of contrasting pictures. This romantic poem is held together by a series of brilliant and startling images of love and death.
He recalls the times he spent with her in the natural surroundings of the moonlit waters, snowy evenings, pine forests and the coastal areas. He remembers the black cross of the ship which is the symbol of his beloved’s funeral. So the speaker feels that he is alone in this world. He feels that days are passing monotonously. Sometimes he wakes up early and finds that his soul is wet. His whole body is sweating because of some kind of bad dream. He feels that he had heard the sound of the sea far away. He loves her although he is here in this world. Although she is there beyond the horizon in the other world, he loves her. Sometimes he sends the message of love to her but gets no reply. He feels that he is forgotten like the old anchors. In the afternoon, he feels sad. He is hungry and tired. His life has no purpose. He finds difficult to pass the evening and hates it. But he likes the night because he meets her regularly in his dream. When the big stars look at him, he feels that his beloved is looking at him. And he feels that the pine trees are singing her name.
In this way, the poem “Hear I Love You” expresses the sadness of separation. The speaker is (here) in this world and his beloved is (there) far away in another world beyond the mortal’s reach. Thus “here” contrasts with “there”. Here in the poem refers to the dark pine wood, snowy evenings and all those places where the speaker travels alone with the memories of his beloved. The grief of separation is vast in this poem because the speaker is alone here in this physical world. However, he still loves her as faithfully as before but the horizon hides her in vain. He looks at the ships sailing out of sight if he could send his kisses to his beloved.
Questions
1) What do ‘here’ and ‘there’ refer to?
Ans: The sadness of separation is centralized by the poet’s skillful handling of “here” and “there”. ‘Here’ refers to present world where the speaker is alone after the death of his beloved. Similarly, there’ refers to another world (perhaps the horizon) where his beloved has gone after death..
2) Why does the speaker look at the ships sailing away?
Ans: The speaker has sent his kisses on the ships. So, he looks at the ships sailing away thinking that he might see her, talk to her, and she might send his kisses back.
3) What does the “black cross” symbolize?
Ans: Black cross is the symbol of death.
4) What’s the meaning of “even my soul is wet”?
Ans: When the speaker gets up early, he finds his soul is wet. It means that his soul is also weeping due to his separation with his beloved. According to him, human beings’ soul also weeps in painful situation.
5) Discuss “Here I Love You” as a love poem.
Ans: ‘Love’ is an extreme feeling of deep affection. Love can be the best feeling in the world and also the worst. The poem that describes about love is a love poem. “Here I Love You” is also a purely a love poem because he has described his love affair with his beloved and his sadness which is caused due to the separation of her. In the poem, he has become a true lover. Even after her death, his love, feeling and emotion toward her are not decreased. She remains in his heart forever.
6) “I love you still among these cold things “. Explain.
Ans: In the past, when he was with the beloved, sea, wind, water, twilight, ship etc. were the sources of happiness. Now these all things have become meaningless and cold in the absence of his beloved. But he still loves her among these cold things. He has not stopped to love her among those cold things.
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