The Nourishment Of Love In "If You Forget Me"

Pablo Neruda is a name that has consistently come up in the world of romantic poetry. In If You Forget Me, his ethereal world mixed with a solemn warning turns out to be a bittersweet piece that will be remembered for centuries to come.

With verses that burn into your brain like memory, Neruda crafts a love both fragile and fierce. Each word clings to the soul and reminds us that true passion never forgets its name.

Without further ado, let’s dive into this piece!

Long Story Short

Neruda was born on the 12th of July in 1904 in Parral, Chile, now part of the Maule region. His dad worked as a railway employee and his mother worked as a school teacher. Two months after he was born, his mother died. Ever since then, he grew up in the city of Temuco with his half-brother Rodolfo and his half-sister “Laurita”. In 1914, at age ten, Neruda composed his first poem, establishing his belief in atheism.

Many nurtured Neruda’s interest in literature, including Gabriela Mistral, who went on to become a future Nobel Prize winner. At age 13, he wrote a collection of poems for his local newspaper, and over the next years, Neruda wrote for multiple magazines to establish his name as a published prose writer.

Soon Neruda moved to Santiago to study French and pursue his dreams of becoming a teacher. He was influenced in his studies to write poetry full-time, and with the assistance of a known writer in the area, he became known to the biggest publisher in Chile at the time, Don Carlos George Nascimento. He published his first volume shortly after, named Twenty Love Poems and A Desperate Song, which included the classic If You Forget Me. The volume was controversial for its erotic style yet also critically acclaimed. Around 1924, Neruda was known internationally as a poet.

Over the next few years, Neruda would be the most prolific as a romantic writer, publishing classic volumes and referencing evil corporations that exploited native people. Decades later he would have a career as a politician, and in 1973, Neruda sadly died of heart failure.

The Writing

Here is the full text of "If You Forget Me" (written c. 1923):

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine

The first stanza can be served as a continuation for the title, so it can be read as, “If you forget me, I want you to know one thing.”

In the second stanza, Neruda immediately switches the topic, talking about the depths of his love to the person he is writing to, through striking imagery and metaphor.

Yet, in the third and fourth stanzas, Neruda writes a warning. He says that if the person stops loving him, he will also stop loving her and if the person he writes to forgets him, he will have already forgotten them.

By the fifth stanza, Neruda says that if “she” decides to leave him by the shore, he will, “on that day, at that hour,” seek another land. But, in the final stanza, Neruda ends on a romantic note, telling “her” that if each day, each hour, you seek my love, and that you feel that you are destined for me, my love will feed on your love, and my love will be in your arms “without leaving mine”.

The Theme

The theme of Pablo Neruda’s If You Forget Me revolves around the conditional nature of love and the deep emotional connection between two people. The speaker expresses powerful, passionate love but makes it clear that this love depends on mutual affection and remembrance. If the beloved forgets him or withdraws her love, he too will let go and stop loving her. However, if she remains faithful and keeps him in her heart, his love will endure endlessly. This highlights the delicate balance between love and loss, showing that true love must be reciprocated to survive. Through vivid imagery and emotional intensity, Neruda captures both the vulnerability and strength that come with loving someone deeply.

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Disclaimer: Remember, this is just my opinion and what I think of a piece after gathering research and writing it down.

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