Poetry Mondays: La Reina

One of the highlights of living in Santiago was being introduced to the works of Pablo Neruda. He was a notorious womanizer, but reading his poetry, it's hard not to see why women fell for him so consistently.

******

La Reina

Yo te he nombrado reina.
Hay más altas que tú,
mas altas.
Hay más puras que tú,
más puras.
Hay más bellas que tú,
hay más bellas.
Pero tú eres la reina.

Cuando vas por las calles nadie te reconoce.
Nadie ve tu corona de cristal, nadie mira la alfombra de oro rojo
que pisas donde pasas, la alfombra que no existe.

Y cuando asomas
suenan todos los ríos
en mi cuerpo, sacuden
el cielo las campanas,
y un himno llena el mundo.

Sólo tú y yo,
sólo tú y yo, amor mío,
lo escuchamos.

******

Translated (Courtesy of Poemhunter)

I have named you queen.
There are taller than you,
taller.
There are purer than you,
purer.
There are lovelier than you,
lovelier.
But you are the queen.

When you go through the streets
No one recognizes you.
No one sees your crystal crown, no one looks
At the carpet of red gold
That you tread as you pass,
The nonexistent carpet.

And when you appear
All the rivers sound
In my body, bells
Shake the sky,
And a hymn fills the world.

Only you and I,
Only you and I, my love,
Listen to me.