A Certain Weariness

A Certain Weariness 

By Pablo Neruda

 

I don't want to be tired alone, 

I want you to grow tired along with me. 

How can we not be weary 

of the kind of fine ash 

which falls on cities in autumn, 

something which doesn't quite burn, 

which collects in jackets 

and little by little settles, 

discoloring the heart. 

 

I'm tired of the harsh sea 

and the mysterious earth. 

I'm tired of chickens 

we never know what they think, 

and they look at us with dry eyes 

as though we were unimportant. 

 

Let us for once - I invite you - 

be tired of so many things, 

of awful aperitifs, 

of a good education. 

 

Tired of not going to France, 

tired of at least one or two days in the week 

which have always the same names 

like dishes on the table, 

and of getting up-what for? 

and going to bed without glory. 

 

Let us finally tell the truth: 

we never thought much 

of these days 

that are like houseflies or camels. 

 

I have seen some monuments 

raised to titans, 

to donkeys of industry. 

They're there, motionless, 

with their swords in their hands 

on their gloomy horses. 

I'm tired of statues. 

Enough of all that stone. 

 

If we go on filling up 

the world with still things, 

how can the living live? 

 

I am tired of remembering. 

 

I want men, when they're born, 

to breathe in naked flowers, 

fresh soil, pure fire, 

not just what everyone breathes. 

 

Leave the newborn in peace! 

Leave room for them to live! 

Don't think for them, 

don't read them the same book; 

let them discover the dawn 

and name their own kisses. 

 

I want you to be weary with me 

of all that is already well done, 

of all that ages us. 

 

Of all that lies in wait 

to wear out other people. 

Let us be weary of what kills 

and of what doesn't want to die. 

 

 

About the Poem

 

Pablo Neruda’s poem “A Certain Weariness” (original Spanish title: “Cansancio”) is a brief yet profound meditation on the nature of human fatigue—not just physical tiredness, but an existential weariness that creeps in when one confronts the ceaseless demands of life, selfhood, and time. The tone is introspective and slightly melancholic. It is not a dramatic despair but a soft, measured surrender to a moment of emotional depletion. The poem’s mood is quiet, tender, and philosophical—more reflective than sorrowful.

 

Neruda expresses a feeling that goes beyond ordinary tiredness. It is the soul’s fatigue—the weariness that stems from the need to perform, to act, to continually be someone in the world. There is an underlying longing for retreat, even erasure—just to stop doing and being for a while. This is a subtle nod toward the idea of non-being or nothingness, not as despair but as relief. In being always himself, the speaker feels alienated—trapped in his own name, his own presence, his own continuity. This can be interpreted as a critique of the burdens of self-consciousness and identity.

 

Pablo Neruda often wrote poems about love, politics, nature, and death, but he also explored solitude and alienation with great lyrical depth. In “A Certain Weariness,” he enters a deeply private space—a confession of burnout and disconnection. It reflects the same existential concerns found in poets like Rilke or even Camus, where consciousness itself becomes exhausting.

 

“A Certain Weariness” is not merely about being tired—it’s about being overwhelmed by the sheer weight of existing. In it, Neruda captures a universally human moment: when the performance of life feels too heavy, and all one wants is to dissolve for a while into silence, into stillness, into the unknown.

 

 

About the Poet

 

Pablo Neruda, born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto on July 12, 1904, in Parral, Chile, was one of the most influential and beloved poets of the 20th century. Writing with extraordinary lyricism and political passion, Neruda’s work spanned love, politics, nature, and the human condition—imbued always with a deep sense of sensuality and moral conviction.

 

Neruda began publishing poetry in his teens, adopting the pen name Pablo Neruda—partly to avoid conflict with his father, who disapproved of his literary ambitions. His breakout collection, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair(1924), written while he was still a young man, gained international acclaim for its raw intimacy and bold eroticism. From these early romantic verses, his poetry evolved into more politically charged and surrealist work, particularly after his experiences as a diplomat and his travels in Asia and Europe.

 

A committed Marxist, Neruda served as a Chilean consul in several countries and later became a Senator for the Chilean Communist Party. His political activism—particularly his support of the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War and his criticism of fascism and imperialism—heavily shaped his later poetry, including the monumental Canto General (1950), a sweeping epic chronicling Latin America’s history and identity.

 

Despite political persecution that forced him into hiding and exile, Neruda remained a cultural icon in Chile and abroad. In 1971, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, honored as a poet “who brings alive a continent’s destiny and dreams.”

 

Neruda died on September 23, 1973, just days after the military coup in Chile led by Augusto Pinochet. Though officially attributed to cancer, his death remains the subject of ongoing investigation and speculation due to possible foul play.

 

Today, Pablo Neruda is remembered not only as a literary giant but as a man who lived at the intersection of beauty and resistance—his words as likely to speak of a lover’s body as of a people’s struggle. His legacy endures in the verses that continue to move hearts across languages and generations.