Comparison Between Always and Tonight I Can Write

I believe he starts with this sentiment because he wants his loved one to know and fully understand that he loves her completely and regardless of her previous relationships. He compares her previous relationships with other men to pieces of them left behind in her body and he still maintains that he loves her unconditionally. The narrator tells the woman he loves to go to the place where he is waiting for her and that they will always be just the two of them. My interpretation of the last sentences of the poem is that he will always stand by her and is anxious to start their life together.

In “Tonight I Can Write”, the narrator begins by saying he can finally write the saddest lines. He uses distance to explain why he can finally write the saddest lines. He compares the distance between him and his former loved one to the distance to the stars in the shattered night sky. He begins explaining his relationship by saying “I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too”(6); I understand with this statement that their relationship has ended and although it was not a serious one, I feel that he wanted it to be. This sentence makes me think that that he was more committed to the relationship than she was.

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The narrator alternating between past and present makes me think that he has not completely accepted the fact that the relationship is over. The narrator references the stars in the night sky, and mentions that without his loved one, the night sky seems even bigger. The narrator flashes back to nights in which he was with his loved one and reminisces about kissing her “again and again under the endless sky” (8). He continues to say that when he remembers that does not have her anymore, when he feels that he lost her; those thoughts give him the inspiration to write the saddest lines.

His feeling of loneliness is emphasized by the “immense night, still more immense without her” (13). The narrator does not analyze his relationship or why it ended, the only thing that he considers worth mentioning is that the relationship did in fact end. When he says “the night is starry and she is not with me” (16), I understand that he is accepting the fact that life continues even though his relationship was over. I find these two poems to be so different and so much alike at the same time.

In both poems Neruda’s sentiments are straightforward, honest and heartfelt. Always” describes the joys of being in love and that love being corresponded; while “Tonight I Can Write” describes the heartache of ending a relationship and still longing for the other person. In both poems the author uses vivid descriptions to make the reader feel what he feels, see what he sees and imagine what he imagines. For example, in “Always”, he compares the woman he loves to a river and the men in her relationship past to “drowned men”, I can see this image clearly in my mind and feel undeniable love and acceptance.

In the second poem, “Tonight I Can Write”, the imagery used by the author makes me feel his pain, his sadness and emptiness. When the author says “my sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer”, I can feel his desire to be with her; I can feel his pain. I feel his loneliness as he remembers the woman he loved and the sadness he experienced and is still experiencing due to his relationship ending. The last sentences in both poems are complete opposites of each other.

For example in “Always” the last sentences convey his happiness and eagerness to start their life as a couple: Bring them all o where I am waiting for you; we shall always be alone, we shall always be you and I alone on earth to start our life! (11-16) These last sentences reiterate the fact that the author does not care about the past men in his loved one’s life; he truly loves her and wants to spend the rest of his live with her. Her past does not concern him; all he cares about is the present and the future.

In “Tonight I Can Write”, the last sentences convey a sense of sadness and resignation. I even sense a bit of anger and determination to stop feeling this sadness he feels every time he remembers her: I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long. Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer and these the last verses that I write for her. ” (27-32) These final sentences tell me that the author is trying to convince himself that he no longer loves her. He states it does not take long for a person to fall in love but forgetting seems to take forever.

It is not easy to forget. It is easier to love someone than to forget them. He still remembers the nights when she would rest in his arms and feels unhappy with the fact that he has lost this woman. He ends the poem by stating that after he finalizes the poem, he will no longer feel pain nor miss her; after he finishes the final “verse” he will move on and find happiness with someone else. The theme in both poems is distance and love. In “Always” he is telling his loved one to come meet him; he is waiting for her.

In “Tonight I Can write” he relieves moments of joy from his relationship, only to come to terms that his relationship is over and that he is waiting for her. The narrator’s sadness in “Tonight I Can Write” it’s so overwhelming that I can feel it so much to the point that I can imagine myself living what he is living. In my opinion Pablo Neruda is an exceptional writer that always writes from the heart and is fully committed to making his readers feel what he feels. I have not found a Neruda poem I do not like. His imagery is so vivid, that I can clearly see in my mind the night sky and see the river full of drowned men.

I can feel his love in “Always” almost as If I were feeling it myself. In “Tonight I Can Write” I can feel his sadness to the point that I feel brokenhearted and angry. In conclusion, these two poems are both beautiful in their own special way. “Always” is beautiful in the sense that the narrator reminds us of the joys of a new relationship; while “Tonight I Can Write” is a reminder that although ending a relationship is sad and at the moment it seems like the end of the world, life continues and one should try to be happy always.