Slow Lament by Pablo Neruda (1958)
The poem is a lamentation of the loss of a loved one, exploring themes of grief, longing, and nostalgia. It expresses the speaker's deep emotional pain and sense of desolation, using imagery and metaphor to convey the intensity of their feelings. The tone is melancholic and introspective, with a focus on the personal experience of mourning.
By Pablo Neruda · First published 1958 · Genre: Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Romanticism · 112 words
First lines
Into the night of the heart your name drops slowly and moves in silence and falls and breaks and spreads its water.
Something wishes for its slight harm and its infinite and short esteem, like the step of a lost one suddenly heard.
Suddenly, suddenly listened to and spread in the heart with sad insistence and increase like a cold autumnal dream.
The thick wheel of the earth, its tire moist with oblivion, spins, cutting time into inaccessible halves.
What this Textopian page supports
Slow Lament is listed on Textopian as a poem by Pablo Neruda, dated 1958 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Pablo Neruda
- Date: 1958 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Romanticism, Modernism, Existentialism
- Length: 112 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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Similar titles
- Ode With A Lament by Pablo Neruda
- Whoever Loved As We Did by Pablo Neruda
- So Long Visitor by Pablo Neruda
- The Disinterred One by Pablo Neruda
- Solitudes by Pablo Neruda
- Oblivion by Pablo Neruda
Genres
- Poetry — The work is characterized by its lyrical and expressive language, typical of poetry, focusing on emotions and imagery.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses personal feelings and thoughts, emphasizing emotional depth and introspection.
- Romanticism — Themes of love, nature, and emotional experience align with the Romantic movement's focus on individual sentiment.
- Modernism — The innovative use of imagery and structure reflects modernist tendencies in literature.
Tags
Poetry · Latin American Literature · Love Poems · Melancholic · Nostalgic · Elegy · Mourning · Loss · Grief · Sorrow · Longing · Yearning
More by Pablo Neruda
- Body of a Woman (1959)
- The Light Wraps You (1954)
- Ah Vastness of Pines (1975)
- The Morning Is Full (1954)
- So That You Will Hear Me (1976)
- I Remember You As You Were (1952)
- Leaning Into The Afternoons Leaning into the afternoons I cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes (1954)
- White Bee (1974)
- All works by Pablo Neruda