If you should ask me where I've been all this time I have to say "Things happen." I have to dwell on stones darkening the earth, on the river ruined in its own duration: I know nothing save things the birds have lost, the sea I left behind, or my sister crying. Why this abundance of places? Why does day lock with day? Why the dark night swilling round in our mouths? And why the dead?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the passage of time and the experiences that shape our existence.
Pablo Neruda's quote contemplates the transient nature of life and the accumulation of memories, filled with loss and reflection. Through imagery of darkness, water, and longing, the narrator explores existential questions about presence, absence, and the emotional burden of the past, suggesting a deep connection between life's fleeting moments and the enduring pain of separation.
In practice
This quote could be used in a graduation speech to reflect on the journey of life and the memories one carries.
Perhaps this war will pass like the others which divided us leaving us dead, killing us along with the killers but the shame of this time puts its burning fingers to our faces. Who will erase the ruthlessness hidden in innocent blood?
I want to see the thirst inside the syllables I want to touch the fire in the sound: I want to feel the darkness of the cry. I want words as rough as virgin rocks.” - Verb.
Only do not forget, if I wake up crying it's only because in my dream I'm a lost child hunting through the leaves of the night for your hands.
And here am I, budding among the ruins with only sorrow to bite on, as if weeping were a seed and I the earth's only furrow.
Once more I am the silent one who came out of the distance wrapped in cold rain and bells: I owe to earth's pure death the will to sprout.
I learned about life from life itself, love I learned in a single kiss and could teach no one anything except that I have lived with something in common among men.
Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character.
Contradiction itself, far from always being a criterion of error, is sometimes a sign of truth.
There is something truer and more real, than what we can see with the eyes, and touch with the finger.
Our crime against criminals lies in the fact that we treat them like rascals.
For my part I cannot believe in a God who is angry with me because I do not believe in him. I cannot believe in a God who is less tolerant than I. I cannot believe in a God who has neither humour nor common sense.
If minds are wholly dependent on brains and brains on biochemistry, and biochemistry (in the long run) on the meaningless flux of the atoms, I cannot understand how the thought of those minds should have any more significance than the sound of the wind in the trees.
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