Thursday, December 8, 2011

Oh, Earth, Wait For Me by Pablo Neruda

One of the best books I've ever read in my life.  Defies genre and transports the reader...  "The Wood Wife" by Terri Windling.


Oh, Earth, Wait For Me
By Pablo Neruda

Return me, oh sun,
to my wild destiny,
rain of the ancient wood
bring me back the aroma and the swords
that fall from the sky,
the solitary peace of pasture and rock,
the damp at the river-margins,
the smell of the larch tree,
the wind alive like a heart
beating in the crowded restlessness
of the towering araucaria.

Earth, give me back your pure gifts,
the towers of silence which rose
from the solemnity of their roots.
I want to go back to being what I have not been,
and learn to go back from such deeps
that amongst all natural things
I could live or not live; it does not matter
to be one stone more, the dark stone,
the pure stone which the river bears away.

~Pablo Neruda

(Poem excerpted in “The Wood Wife” by Terri Windling, pages 130, 131)

=======================

Evening
 
The sky puts on the darkening blue coat
held for it by a row of ancient trees;
you watch: and the lands grow distant in your sight,
one journeying to heaven, one that falls;
 
and leave you, not at home in either one,
not quite so still and dark as the darkened houses,
not calling to eternity with the passion
of what becomes a star each night, and rises;
 
and leave you (inexpressibly to unravel)
your life, with its immensity and fear,
so that, now bounded, now immeasurable,
it is alternatively stone in you and star.
 
~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~
 
Excerpted from "The Wood Wife" by Terri Windling, pages 131, 132
 
=======================

Please, please, please...this is my burning desire:  "Return me, oh sun, to my wild destiny..."

14 comments:

Wine and Words said...

Oh dear God yes. Evening. I am in an eternal evening, waiting for day, begging for it.

I love you Marion.

Ben Ditty said...

Oh, I can't wait to write the best book you've ever read someday :)

Marion said...

Annie, your heart is my shining star, always present. I love you, too, dear friend. xoxo

Psalm 30:5 - "...Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

Marion said...

Ben, go for it. I have about a dozen books I say that about. I'm sure yours will definitely make the cut. xoxo

Shreya said...

Lovely!! :)

Marion said...

Thank you, Shreya. :-) xo

Serena said...

That is pure perfection in tone and texture. Every single word -- perfect.
xo

Marion said...

SJ, thanks, I thought so, too. I've read "The Wood Wife" dozens of times. I wish I could give a copy to all my reading friends. It's just an excellent, imaginative plot that keeps on giving. xo

Ces said...

Marion!!! I will try to send you an ATC!!! I am glad to hear you like them. Tsup!

Marion said...

Ces, I would LOVE one of your ATC's. You know how much I adore your art. xoxo

Ed Pilolla said...

these both honor nature and the universe, and they are both so moving. i like the playfulness of putting on the coat with the help of the trees, especially 'you watch.'
neruda is a master, not just looking at nature but feeling it where it is damp. i really love wanting to be a stone, and a dark one at that.

quid said...

Sounds like a wonderful book. I'll wishlist it!

Poems were superb. Two of my favorites.

quid

Chris said...

Just stumbled on your blog and this old post. I love Woodwife too. Do you know that Terri Windling has a blog?

http://windling.typepad.com/blog/

Nice work here, glad I visited.

Marion said...

Thank you, Chris. I didn't know she had a blog. I'll check it out. I sure wish she'd write another adult novel for me, perhaps a sequel to this one. LOL! Thanks for visiting. xo