3 Pablo Neruda Love Poems for a Romantic Wedding Ceremony

Three famous love poems in Spanish and English by one of the best poets of all time

 

 

Adding a timeless love poem or reading to a prewritten sample wedding script or ceremony template is the perfect way to personalize your wedding ceremony without a lot of extra effort or time. 

 

Whether you’re planning a small romantic elopement, a live streamed virtual wedding, or an English-Spanish bilingual wedding ceremony, consider one of these absolutely swoon-worthy Pablo Neruda poems. 

 

Neruda was a prolific Chilean poet and diplomat known for his passionate poems on the nature of love and longing. Gabriel García Márquez called Neruda “the greatest poet of the 20th century – in any language,” and he even won a Nobel Prize for Literature in the 70s, "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams." (via NobelPrize.org)

 

Give your wedding ceremony a passionate and timeless custom feel with one of these classic love poems! 

 

We’ve included each of these 3 poems in their original Spanish along with an English translation. 

 

 

Next, ask a friend or family member to get ordained to officiate your wedding ceremony.

 

 

 

3 Love Poems by Pablo Neruda 

for your wedding ceremony 
in English and Spanish

 

1. Sonnet XVI (Sonnet 16)

 

I love the piece of earth you are,
because in all the planetary prairies
I do not have another star. You repeat
the multiplication of the universe.

Your wide eyes are the light that I have
of the vanquished constellations,
your skin pulses like the roads, 
which the meteor follows in the rain.

Of so much moon were your hips to me,
of all the sun your deep mouth and its delight,
of so much burning light like honey in the shade

your heart burnt by long red rays,
and this way I follow the fire of your form kissing you, 
small and planetary, dove and geography.

 

(Translated by Gustavo Escobedo)

 

 

Neruda Sonnet XVI in Spanish:

 

Amo el trozo de tierra que tú eres,
porque de las praderas planetarias
otra estrella no tengo. Tú repites
la multiplicación del universo.

Tus anchos ojos son la luz que tengo
de las constelaciones derrotadas,
tu piel palpita como los caminos
que recorre en la lluvia el meteoro.

De tanta luna fueron para mí tus caderas,
de todo el sol tu boca profunda y su delicia,
de tanta luz ardiente como miel en la sombra

tu corazón quemado por largos rayos rojos,
y así recorro el fuego de tu forma besándote,
pequeña y planetaria, paloma y geografía.

 

2. Sonnet XVII (Sonnet 17)

 

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,   
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:   
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,   
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries   
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,   
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose   
from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,   
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,   
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,   
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

 

(Translated by Mark Eisner. See the full poem on PoetryFoundation.org)

 

 

Neruda Sonnet XVII in Spanish: 

 

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio
o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:
te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.

Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva
dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,
y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo
el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra.

Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,

sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

 

3. Sonnet XXII (Sonnet 22)

 

How many times, love, I loved you without seeing you 
and maybe without recollection,
not recognizing your glance, not looking at you, a centaur,
in adverse regions, in a burning midday:
you were just the scent of the grains I love.

Perhaps I saw you, I imagined you passing lifting a glass
in Angol, by the light of the moon in June,
or you were the waist of that guitar
I played in the darkness, and it sounded like the excessive sea.

I loved you without my knowing it, and I looked for your memory.
In the empty houses I entered with a lantern to steal your portrait.
But I already knew how you were. Suddenly

While you were with me I touched you and my life stopped:
before my eyes you were, ruling me, and you reign.
Like a bonfire in the woods, fire is your kingdom.

 

(Translated by Gustavo Escobedo)

 

Neruda Sonnet XXII in Spanish: 

 

Cuántas veces, amor, te amé sin verte y tal vez sin recuerdo, 
sin reconocer tu mirada, sin mirarte, centaura, 
en regiones contrarias, en un mediodía quemante: 
eras sólo el aroma de los cereales que amo. 

Tal vez te vi, te supuse al pasar levantando una copa 
en Angol, a la luz de la luna de Junio, 
o eras tú la cintura de aquella guitarra 
que toqué en las tinieblas y sonó como el mar desmedido. 

Te amé sin que yo lo supiera, y busqué tu memoria. 
En las casas vacías entré con linterna a robar tu retrato. 
Pero yo ya sabía cómo era. De pronto 

mientras ibas conmigo te toqué y se detuvo mi vida: 
frente a mis ojos estabas, reinándome, y reinas. 
Como hoguera en los bosques el fuego es tu reino.

 

…

 

 

 

Not what you were looking for? 

Try these other wedding reading suggestions! 

 

---

 

Find more Spanish language wedding scripts in our 
Wedding Ceremony Script Library

 

---

 

You might also like: 

 

 

• 12 Love Poems for Your Wedding Ceremony
   
• Dark Love Poems & Wedding Readings for a Goth Inspired Ceremony
   

---

 

Love this article? Pin it on Pinterest! 

 

 

 

---