What’s More Romantic Than a Poem?

There are many gifts you can give your significant other this Valentine's Day: chocolate, flowers, cards, but how about a poem?
Here is one by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda:

Love Sonnet XLV

by Pablo Neruda

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?

The poem was taken from the book 100 Love Sonnets, a bilingual edition you can find at the Faulk Central Library. We also have two book displays on the subject of love. Both displays include a Valentine’s Day Raffle where you can win a box of chocolates. Wednesday is the last day to enter. Happy Valentine's Day!