Me gustas cuando callas.

Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente,
y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca.
Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado
y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.
.
Como todas las cosas están llenas de mi alma
emerges de las cosas, llena del alma mía.
Mariposa de sueño, te pareces a mi alma,
y te pareces a la palabra melancolía.
.
Me gustas cuando callas y estás como distante.
Y estás como quejándote, mariposa en arrullo.
Y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te alcanza:
Déjame que me calle con el silencio tuyo.
.
Déjame que te hable también con tu silencio
claro como una lámpara, simple como un anillo.
Eres como la noche, callada y constelada.
Tu silencio es de estrella, tan lejano y sencillo.
.
Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente.
Distante y dolorosa como si hubieras muerto.
Una palabra entonces, una sonrisa bastan.
Y estoy alegre, alegre de que no sea cierto.

- Pablo Neruda

I like you when you go quiet, because it's as if you were absent,
And you hear me from far away and my voice doesn't touch you.
It seems as if you eyes had flown away
And it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth.

As all things are filled with my soul
You emerge from the things, filled with my soul.
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dream,
And you resemble the word melancholy.


I like you when you go quiet, and you seem distant.
It sounds as though you were lamenting, a butterfly cooing a lullaby.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
Let me go mute in your silence.

And let me talk to you with your silence
That is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, quiet and constellated.
Your silence is that of a star, as far-off and plain.

I like you when you go quiet, for it's as though you were absent,
distant and aching, as though you had died.
One word then, one smile, is enough.
And i am happy, happy that it's not true.

- Pablo Neruda