Love : Poems from the Film 'Il Postino

by Pablo Neruda

Poems from the Film Il Postino

The poems collected in this book are at the heart of the film Il Postino, a cinematic fantasy spun from an apocryphal incident in the life of the Chilean poet and Nobel laureate, Pablo Neruda. Together they show why many consider Neruda to be the finest love poet of the century. Few writers of any age have described the pleasures and torments of erotic love with such unsentimental directness and sensual precision.

Here we find Neruda at his most accessible, the language of his odes and lyrics refined to the point at which it achieves, in critic Jean Franco's words, "the naturalness of song". This short selection draws on work from throughout his writing life, from the famous early collection Twenty Love Songs and a Song of Despair (1924) to the key works of his maturity, Residence on Earth (1935), Elemental Odes (1954) and the autobiographical Memorial de Isla Negra (1964). It offers an enticing glimpse of one of modern poetry's greatest masters.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction, Romance, Latin American, Love, Spanish Literature

48 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 1995

About the author

Pablo Neruda, born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto in 1904 in Parral, Chile, was a poet, diplomat, and politician, widely considered one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. From an early age, he showed a deep passion for poetry, publishing his first works as a teenager. He adopted the pen name Pablo Neruda to avoid disapproval from his father, who discouraged his literary ambitions. His breakthrough came with Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, 1924), a collection of deeply emotional and sensual poetry that gained international recognition and remains one of his most celebrated works.
Neruda’s career took him beyond literature into diplomacy, a path that allowed him to travel extensively and engage with political movements around the world. Beginning in 1927, he served in various consular posts in Asia and later in Spain, where he witnessed the Spanish Civil War and became an outspoken advocate for the Republican cause. His experiences led him to embrace communism, a commitment that would shape much of his later poetry and political activism. His collection España en el corazón (Spain in Our Hearts, 1937) reflected his deep sorrow over the war and marked a shift toward politically engaged writing.
Returning to Chile, he was elected to the Senate in 1945 as a member of the Communist Party. However, his vocal opposition to the repressive policies of President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla led to his exile. During this period, he traveled through various countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, further cementing his status as a global literary and political figure. It was during these years that he wrote Canto General (1950), an epic work chronicling Latin American history and the struggles of its people.
Neruda’s return to Chile in 1952 marked a new phase in his life, balancing political activity with a prolific literary output. He remained a staunch supporter of socialist ideals and later developed a close relationship with Salvador Allende, who appointed him as Chile’s ambassador to France in 1970. The following year, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognized for the scope and impact of his poetry. His later years were marked by illness, and he died in 1973, just days after the military coup that overthrew Allende. His legacy endures, not only in his vast body of work but also in his influence on literature, political thought, and the cultural identity of Latin America.

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite anthologies by my favorite poet. It is one of the most celebrated works of the Nobel Prize-winning poet- Pablo Neruda. His ability to express deep passion through simple metaphors makes this anthology close to our hearts.

“I like for you to be still
I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not touch you
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth
As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things
Filled with my soul
You are like my soul
A butterfly of dream
And you are like the word: Melancholy.”

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[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is shattered,
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, and sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes?

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her,
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
That night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that is certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before.
Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes,

I no longer love her, that is certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer,
and these the last verses that I write for her.

[Edita · Rating 5 out of 5]

and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
*
And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

*
The birds of night peck at the first stars
that flash like my soul when I love you.

[rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the rains
and Neruda
in the silence of an unending,
still monster
that moves so slowly
as if every inch of ground covered
was to leave the poet
a mile behind.



PS : Third reading and first since having watched the brilliant movie.


I Like For You To Be Still

I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not touch you
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth
As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things
Filled with my soul
You are like my soul
A butterfly of dream
And you are like the word: Melancholy

I like for you to be still
And you seem far away
It sounds as though you are lamenting
A butterfly cooing like a dove
And you hear me from far away
And my voice does not reach you
Let me come to be still in your silence
And let me talk to you with your silence
That is bright as a lamp
Simple, as a ring
You are like the night
With its stillness and constellations
Your silence is that of a star
As remote and candid

I like for you to be still
It is as though you are absent
Distant and full of sorrow
So you would've died
One word then, One smile is enough
And I'm happy;
Happy that it's not true

- Neruda

[Dona's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE BRIEF WONDEROUS LIFE OF OACAR WAO meets THE COMPLETE WORKS OF LEONORA CARRINGTON

I don't feel equipped to make many comments about this book because, to begin with, it's so short. But also I think I'm losing something in translation, which happens all the time. Not the poet's fault. So I had trouble connecting here until the final piece, called "Ode to the Sea."

Also, the edition I read appears to be a movie tie-in of some sort. It's described in the front matter as "A bilingual edition from the movie, The Postman". I did however love the bilingual format, with the Spanish and English versions facing each other on each page. I had more fun reading them together and asking myself questions about meaning than I did reading the English versions alone. For this reason, I recommend the bilingual version, if you decide to indulge in this short chapbook.

I have a paperback copy of LOVE: TEN POEMS by Pablo Neruda. I will be donating/selling this one.

Part of my kill-my-tbr project, in which I'm reading all my physical, unread books, which number around one thousand!

[Lisa *-* GiViNg It To YoU * LoCk StOcK & TwO SmOkiNg BaRrELs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply Beautiful

[Suraia Munia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish i knew spanish. I read the poems in English but Neruda is Neruda. Simply beautiful!

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Love: Ten Poems by Pablo Neruda during one of the strangest stretches of modern life—high COVID, 2022. The world was locked down, breathless in fear and fever, and somehow this slim volume of love poems arrived like a window flung open in a quarantined room. It didn’t heal—but it breathed. And that was enough.

This book is Neruda at his most distilled and intimate. Just ten poems, but each feels like a universe folded into the curvature of a lover’s shoulder. The language, even in translation, feels warm-skinned and sun-drenched—ripe with sighs, silence, and salt. It’s not just love he writes about—it’s being undone by love. The trembling. The ache. The worship. The waiting. These are not poems of flirtation. These are poems written from the inside of a kiss.

Maybe that’s what hit hardest—reading them during COVID, when touch had become taboo, distance was the new devotion, and every cough carried dread. And here was Neruda, writing lines that pressed close, that insisted on nearness, that whispered "I crave you like air."

The poems are quiet but relentless. They don’t ask for attention—they claim it. Like so much of Neruda’s love poetry, there’s that signature gravity: “I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, / in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” And suddenly, my lockdown felt less sterile, more haunted—in the best way.

This collection isn’t about variety; it’s about depth. Neruda circles the beloved the way a tide circles a shore, over and over, wearing down distance. Some poems feel ripe with longing, others calm as breath. And yet, there’s always that Nerudian awareness that love is never safe. It wounds. It claims. It transforms.

In a time when human contact was rationed like oxygen, these ten poems made me feel. Made me remember. Made me ache beautifully. Love: Ten Poems isn’t Neruda’s most expansive work, but it’s one of his most essential—especially in a moment when we all needed something essential to hold.

Read it when the world feels too cold. Or too quiet. Or too far.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, which contains ten poems by Pablo Neruda, is used in the film Il Postino (The Postman) and read by several Hollywood celebrities on its soundtrack. I remember listening to it with my best friend during our college days and gushing over how brilliantly Neruda had penned poems about passionate love.

My favorite poem of his will always be ”Tonight I Can Write”, which is included in this collection, although this verse from “Poetry” (also in this book) also often gets to me every time I come across it:

And it was at that age ... Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.

A lovely quick read on a sultry afternoon.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

He writes with a passion beyond compare. His poetry touches me. I love Pablo Neruda. I am not a huge fan of poetry. The only books of poetry I own are written by Neruda. His books are like beautifully written love stories. Love him love him love him.

[Steven Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection from my favourite poet.

[ნინო კერესელიძე · Rating 5 out of 5]

ცოტა არაადეკვატურად მიყვარს უკვე.
დიდი ნაწილი ლექსებისა წაკითხული მქონდა, მაგრამ რამდენიმე ახალი, ნერუდასთვის ჩვეული ტკბილი და ლამაზი ლექსიც შემხვდა, მომნუსხა, მომთაფლა..
რაც შეეხება ინგლისურ თარგმანს, მერვინის ნათარგმნი ბევრად უფრო მომეწონა ვიდრე ამ ხუთეულის.
ჩემთვის ერთ-ერთი უსაყვარლესი სტრიქონია ნერუდას მთლიანი შემოქმედებიდან:
“Inclinado en las tardes tiro mis tristes redes a tus ojos oceanicos”
და თარგმანის ორი ვარიანტი:
1. “ leaning into the afternoons i fling my sad nets to the sea that beats on your marine eyes”
2. “ leaning into the afternoons i cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes.”

რომელი სჯობს თავად განსაჯეთ.

ხო და პოეზიამ როგორ იპოვა, საოცრად უწერია ამაზე, საყვარელ სტრიქონებს ვინახავ ხოლმე და მთელი ლექსი შევინახე.

ჩემი კაცია, რა გავაკეთო❤️

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This very brief book of poetry presents odes to love of all types, physical, metaphysical, love of nature, that first moment of meeting the love of poetry itself. "Poetry" is one of my favorites.

[Sneha Jaiswal · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I like for you to be still; it is as though you were absent,

and you hear me from far away and my voice does

not touch you.

It seems as though your eyes had flow away

and it seems kiss had sealed your mouth”

-these are the first few lines from a poem by Pablo Neruda titled “I like for you to be still”.

I had borrowed a small book of his love poems from a friend last week. Started reading it on a night when I wasn’t in a good head-space. So I curled up with this little book on the bed, reading Neruda’s poetry softly to myself. Quite frankly – I didn’t understand what the first one meant, at least not at the first reading. So I read it out two times more and then deduced my own meanings from the lines. They are probably far from what the poet meant.

“I like for you to be still” was the second poem in the book and is my favorite from all the ten. Though short, the end brought a smile to my face and of-course, I read it once again. I moved on to the next poem titled ‘Poetry’, which talks about how the poet was inspired to write his first few lines. There is no tangible muse, the poet claims it was poetry that came looking for him and he knows not from where. For me, I felt like the idea of this poem was to tell the readers that it doesn’t matter what inspires one to write, what matters more is what that writing does to the writer. In this case, Neruda talks about how poetry sets his heart free. I was content with reading just three poems that night and then fell asleep earlier than usual in a long long time. Neruda’s poetry was soothing.

The next day, I texted a friend about how his poetry comforted me when I was feeling low for no reason whatsoever. And she told me how some of her lovers had tried to impress her by reciting Pablo’s poetry.

“Tonight I can write the saddest Lines” she texted and then sent me the link to that poem.

“It’s the most cliche break-up poem but the fact that men make the effort to make you feel guilty, it’s crazy” she added.

Since I hadn’t read all the poems in the book, I didn’t know that the same poem was part of the collection too. It’s poem number nine and beautifully written, a resigned sorrow permeates all the lines. “Love is so short, forgetting is so long” Neruda laments and with that one line he resonates with everyone who has ever loved and lost.

There was just one poem that I thought was a little odd in the collection but since this collection is supposed to have works that were consequential to a film on Neruda called ‘Il Postino’, I don’t have much context. The poem is about a naked mermaid who accidentally stumbles into a bar full of drunks and is treated like dirt; men spit on her, put out their cigarette stubs on her skin. For some reason, it reminded me of a disturbing art experiment, where an artist stood still for hours and said people could do whatever they wanted to do with her. At the end of it, people had disrobed her, groped her, even made cuts on her body. It was horrifying.

The last poem in the book titled “Ode to the Sea” made me nostalgic about the beach city I grew up in, where my parents still stay and I haven’t seen them this year at all. So while Neruda’s poem comforted me in the beginning, they left me longing for home in the end.

It’s a five on five stars from me.

[Frankie Vascellaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and sweet; there are many great passages within these pages. i was initially confused by the title considering not many of the poems center around love, but i now believe all of them do in their own special way. i loved the poem “poetry” and was going to include a quote from it in my review, but i have been gifted something much greater in the form of a dedication on the front cover:

Being apart from you means separation from the best parts of myself, replaced by the ache of their absences and the silence when I call out your name.

[charlie chaplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

pablo neruda just does it for me

[Phoebe Scarborough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not that it’s a competition. But, “Tonight I can write…” wins.

[Tara]

faves: i like for you to be still, poetry, tonight i can write

[Debbie Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love: Ten Poems by Pablo Neruda is obviously a short collection but an interesting one, if only for the simple fact that the selection of poems has been dictated by cinematic choice rather than a theme or themes that the poet or editor wanted to explore.
The movie these marvellous poems feature in is The Postman (not the Kevin Costner movie) but Il Positano, an Italian film released in 1994 that I’ve decided (after reading the poems) that I must see. And whose main star Massimo Troisi postponed heart surgery to complete the film and then tragically died a day afterwards.
This is a bilingual edition that includes mention of who translated each poem. There are a total of six translators. W.S. Merwin who translated the bulk of the poems and is a wonderful poet himself. See my review of Present Company here on Goodreads. Alistair Reid who translated two and Stephen Tapscott, Donald D Walsh, Nathaniel Tarn and Ken Krobbenhoft with one each. Nine of the ten poems are hallmark Neruda, eloquent, lyrical and for me anyway visually evocative. The tenth contains the very awkard word “lengthily” and is just not up to the standard of the others. I’m blaming the translation/translator.
Favourites are - I Like For You To Be Still - “And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
Let me come to be still in your silence.”
The mesmerising Poetry -
“...but from a street I was summoned
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.”

And Leaning into the Afternoons...
“Leaning into the afternoons I cast my sad nets
towards your oceanic eyes.”

I am in awe. An excellent introduction to Neruda’s work. Highly recommended.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the translations were great. My favorite poems include "Fabula de la Sirena y los Borrachos" and "Puedo Escribir los Versos..." I have to admit that I liked "Fabula" better in English and "Versos" better in Spanish. The language definitely changes the overall effect/impact.

[Moushumi Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book but I had forgotten buying it. So I read it as if for the first time. Neruda's poems still have that impact.

[Nada · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Estifanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of love poems showcases Neruda's unparalleled ability to articulate the intensity, beauty, and anguish of love in its various forms.

I don't believe the translation fully captured the essence of his original Spanish verses. But, the overall impact and beauty of his poetry remain intact, allowing readers to appreciate the timeless nature of his work.

"𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴.
𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Jenny Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a tribute to both the poet and the translators that these poems are still so beautiful in English.

[Emilie]

imssooo scared of my matura but nerudda is inda good im sorry im basic

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

read while pacing around savers

[Clauds · Rating 5 out of 5]

These love poems caressed my heart and soul in a gentle way. This was such a joyful quick read. Love that there was the spanish version and english version of each poem too. that was lovely

[Heba Malik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Began this little collection when I was far from love and finished it wildly held in its grasp. Neruda, as always, is simply beautiful, and as always, I am immensely glad I can read and understand Spanish. Translation does what it can; but nothing can do Neruda justice like his mother tongue.

[Alice Pederkoff]

I wish I could read these poems in Spanish! I bet they are lovely.

[Zuberino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The shortest of short Neruda collections. Three of my favourites here were translated, naturally, by W.S. Merwin: "Walking around" (the salaryman's lament: It happens that I am tired of being a man), the love lyric Tonight I can write the saddest lines, and the thrilling imagery of that poem that starts:

Leaning into the afternoons I cast my sad nets
towards your oceanic eyes.

The best poems and the best lines have a beauty that is almost liquid... looking over at one's lover in the morning (Stephen Tapscott):

Naked, you are as simple as one of your hands

...or discovering poetry (Alastair Reid):

And it was at that age... Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.

...or recalling an Adonic Angela (Donald Walsh):

Today I stretched out next to a pure young woman
as if at the shore of a white ocean

...or admiring a beautiful nude (Nate Tarn):

The moon lives in the lining of your skin.

...or that most famous of lines from Poem XX:

Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido.

Time to bust out Veinte Poemas again...