If You Forget Me poem by Pablo Neruda Summary

SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar

Satavahana University Karimnagar- Degree I year English Semester-1. Unit.3..Academic yr.2020-21onwards

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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 

if you Forget Me poem summary-Unit-3

Pablo Neruda was a popular Chilean poet. The poem is in free verse and it is an expression of the speaker's love for his beloved.

A few critics believe that the poem exposes Neruda's feelings for his wife, Matilda Urrutia. Neruda wrote the poem during his exile so,some critics say that the poem is  a reference to his country Chile.

The speaker who is living in a distant land pines for the love of his beloved. The crystal moon, the touch of ash near the fire, the burnt log reminds him his beloved.Every object appears to him like boats that could carry him to his lover.

The speaker warns his beloved that  love is mutual. If she decides to leave him at this side of the shore, he will not hesitate to move away to different place. But if she yearns for him, her true love will automatically kindle the fire of love back in him. Love is reciprocal.

The verses are unrhymed. Six stanzas are of different lengths. The images like 'crystal moon ','red branch,' 'slow autumn' magnify the intensity of love. The symbols used in the poem include crystal moon,red branch, impalpable ash.

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Annotations

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

Reference:- The poem "if You Forget Me' was written by Pablo Neruda, a popular Chilean poet.

 He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Context:- The poem is an expression of the speaker's love for his beloved.A few critics believe that the poem exposes Neruda's feelings for his wife, Matilda Urrutia. Neruda wrote the poem during his exile so,some critics say that the poem is  a reference to his country Chile.

Meaning:- The speaker warns his beloved that  love is mutual. If she decides to leave him at this side of the shore, he will not hesitate to move away to different place. But if she yearns for him, her true love will automatically kindle the fire of love back in him. Love is reciprocal.

G.Ramakrishna

SRR GDC Karimnagar