I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You is an emotional poem written by Pablo Neruda, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century. Pablo was known for his lyrical style and deep understanding of themes such as love, politics, and existentialism. His poem, I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You, expresses the paradoxical nature of love, of the duality of love. It talks about how it can be both liberating and imprisoning.
I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire.
I love you only because it’s you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.
Maybe January light will consume
My heart with its cruel
Ray, stealing my key to true calm.
In this part of the story I am the one who
Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.