Romantic words and poems not only can increase the romance, but they’re also a powerful learning tool and an excellent strategy to improve your reading.
In this post, you’ll find a list of 10 romantic Spanish love poems with English translations suitable for beginners and advanced speakers.
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1. “Amemos” (Let’s Love) by Amado Nervo
Si nadie sabe ni por qué reímos
ni por qué lloramos ;
si nadie sabe ni por qué vivimos
ni por qué nos vamos;
si en un mar de tinieblas nos movemos,
si todo es noche en derredor y arcano,
¡A lo menos, amemos!
¡Quizá no sea en vano!
If no one even knows why we laugh
nor why we cry;
if no one even knows why we live
nor why we are leaving;
If in a sea of darkness we move,
If everything is night around and arcane,
At least, let’s love!
Maybe it’s not in vain!
“Amemos” (“Let’s Love”) is great for the existentialist romantic. It reflects on how love relates to the meaning of life and existence.
If you want to memorize a love poem, this is an excellent option. It’s short, just eight lines long. It also uses rhyme, so it will be easier to memorize.
While most of the vocabulary will be familiar to beginning Spanish students, it features some less familiar vocabulary like tinieblas (darkness) and arcano (secret/mystery), so you’ll learn some new words.
El día que me quieras tendrá más luz que junio;
la noche que me quieras será de plenilunio,
con notas de Beethoven vibrando en cada rayo
sus inefables cosas,
y habrá juntas más rosas
que en todo el mes de mayo.
Las fuentes cristalinas
irán por las laderas
saltando cristalinas
el día que me quieras.
El día que me quieras, los sotos escondidos
resonarán arpegios nunca jamás oídos.
Éxtasis de tus ojos, todas las primaveras
que hubo y habrá en el mundo serán cuando me quieras.
Cogidas de la mano cual rubias hermanitas,
luciendo golas cándidas, irán las margaritas
por montes y praderas,
delante de tus pasos, el día que me quieras…
Y si deshojas una, te dirá su inocente
postrer pétalo blanco: ¡Apasionadamente!
Al reventar el alba del día que me quieras,
tendrán todos los tréboles cuatro hojas agoreras,
y en el estanque, nido de gérmenes ignotos,
florecerán las místicas corolas de los lotos.
El día que me quieras será cada celaje
ala maravillosa; cada arrebol, miraje
de “Las Mil y una Noches”; cada brisa un cantar,
cada árbol una lira, cada monte un altar.
El día que me quieras, para nosotros dos
cabrá en un solo beso la beatitud de Dios.
The day that you love me will have more light than June;
The night that you love me it will be of full moon,
with notes of Beethoven vibrating in every beam
of indescribable things,
and there will be together more roses
that in every May.
The crystalline fountains
will go through the hillsides
jumping crystalline
the day that you love me.
The day that you love me, the hidden copses
will sing arpeggios never heard before.
The day when you love me, every spring
that existed and will ever exist in the world,
will manifest in the ecstasy in your eyes.
Holding hands like blond sisters,
showing candid ruffs, the daisies will go
over the mounts and prairies,
in front of your steps, the day that you love me…and if you defoliate one, the last innocent white petal will say to you : I love you passionately!
After the dawn bursts on the day that you love me, all the shamrock plants will have four ominous petals and in the pond, nest of unknown seeds, will bloom the mystical corollas of the lotuses.
The day that you love me every clouds-cape will have
wonderful wings, every crimson glow will be a mirage
of “The Thousand and one Night “, every breeze will be a song,
every tree a lyre, and every mount an altar.
The day that you love me,
just one kiss will encompass all of God’s beatitude, for both of us.
“El día que me quieras” (“The Day That You Love Me”) is about how beautiful the world will be when “you” love “me,” so it’s a great poem to read to someone you’re hoping to start up a romance with.
Like “Amemos,” it uses a rhyming pattern that will make it a bit easier to read and/or memorize. “El día que me quieras” uses a lot of future tense, so it’s great for anyone who wants practice in this area.
The vocabulary is relatively simple with a few more advanced vocabulary words like éxtasis (ecstasy), lucir (to shine) and apasionadamente (passionately), so beginners and advanced speakers alike will benefit from this poem.
3. “San Valentín” (Saint Valentine) by unknown author
Hoy no es un día cualquiera
para el corazón por fin
hoy ha llegado este día
que es el de San Valentin.
Yo no te ofrezco regalos
ni cosas de gran valor
solo quiero transmitirte
detalles sin importancia
que me dicta el corazón.
Son muchos los corazones
que a tu encanto se rindieron
y sin embargo muy pocos
los que de verdad te dieron
su corazón al completo.
Entregando cada día
sus ilusiones, su aprecio
y también su compañía
estando siempre a las buenas
y a las malas cada día.
Pero tu no te preocupes
que es tu corazón tan grande
que un príncipe llegara
muy pronto para llenarle.
Y así podrás celebrar
el día del corazón
alegre, con entusiasmo
siempre repleta de amor.
Para terminar te digo
como ella canto
que recuerdes que el amor
no se paga con dinero
con joyas, ni con te quieros
se paga con mas amor.
Today is not just any day
for the heart at last
today this day has arrived
which is Valentine’s Day.
I don’t offer you gifts
nor things of great value
I just want to convey to you
unimportant details
what my heart tells me.
There are many hearts
that they surrendered to your charm
and yet very few
the ones that really gave you
his whole heart.
Delivering every day
your dreams, your appreciation
and also your company
always being on the right side
and to the bad ones every day.
But don’t worry
your heart is so big
that a prince would arrive
too soon to fill it.
And so you can celebrate
heart day
joyful, enthusiastic
always full of love.
To finish I tell you
how she sang
that you remember that love
it is not paid with money
with jewelry, nor with I love you
It is paid with more love.
“San Valentín” (“Saint Valentine”) is a poem of unknown origin about Valentine’s Day itself. It focuses on how love is more important than material objects.
It rhymes some, though the pattern isn’t as clear or consistent as Amado Nervo’s poems. Still, the rhyme makes it easier to memorize or recite.
The vocabulary is pretty simple and the poem uses mostly present tense verbs, so this is a good option for beginners. A few vocabulary words that might be less familiar include rendirse (to surrender) and llenar (to fill).
4. “Un amor” (One love) by Pablo Neruda
Por ti junto a los jardines recién florecidos me duelen
los perfumes de primavera.
He olvidado tu rostro, no recuerdo tus manos,
¿cómo besaban tus labios?
Por ti amo las blancas estatuas dormidas en los parques,
las blancas estatuas que no tienen voz ni mirada.
He olvidado tu voz, tu voz alegre.
He olvidado tus ojos.
Como una flor a su perfume, estoy atado a tu recuerdo impreciso.
Estoy cerca del dolor como una herida, si me tocas me dañarás irremediablemente.
Tus caricias me envuelven como las enredaderas a los muros sombríos.
He olvidado tu amor y sin embargo te adivino detrás de todas las ventanas.
Por ti me duelen los pesados perfumes del estío:
Por ti vuelvo a acechar los ginos que precipitan los deseos,
las estrellas en fuga, los objetos que caen.
Because of you, in gardens of blossoming flowers
I ache from the perfumes of spring.
I have forgotten your face, I no longer remember your hands;
how did your lips feel on mine?
Because of you, I love the white statues drowsing in the parks,
the white statues that have neither voice nor sight.
I have forgotten your voice, your happy voice;
I have forgotten your eyes.
Like a flower to its perfume, I am bound to my vague memory of you.
I live with pain that is like a wound; if you touch me, you will do me irreparable harm.
Your caresses enfold me, like climbing vines on melancholy walls.
I have forgotten your love, yet I seem to glimpse you in every window.
Because of you, the heady perfumes of summer pain me; because
of you, I again seek out the signs that precipitate desires:
shooting stars, falling objects.
“Un amor” (“One love”) focuses on missing a loved one. It doesn’t rhyme and has intermediate vocabulary, so this poem will be a little harder to commit to memory.
The upside is that it has a more natural, speech-like flow. It’s best for intermediate and advanced speakers.
Watch out for some vocabulary words that might be unfamiliar like rostro (face), atar (to tie), herida (wound/injury), dañar (to damage/spoil), caricia (caress), adivinar (to discern) and acechar (to stalk/spy on).
Te recuerdo como eras en el último otoño.
Eras la boina gris y el corazón en calma.
En tus ojos peleaban las llamas del crepúsculo.
Y las hojas caían en el agua de tu alma.
Apegada a mis brazos como una enredadera,
las hojas recogían tu voz lenta y en calma.
Hoguera de estupor en que mi sed ardía.
Dulce jacinto azul torcido sobre mi alma.
Siento viajar tus ojos y es distante el otoño:
boina gris, voz de pájaro y corazón de casa
hacia donde emigraban mis profundos anhelos
y caían mis besos alegres como brasas.
Cielo desde un navío. Campo desde los cerros.
Tu recuerdo es de luz, de humo, de estanque en
calma!
Más allá de tus ojos ardían los crepúsculos.
Hojas secas de otoño giraban en tu alma.
I remember you as you were last autumn.
You were the gray beret and the calm heart.
In your eyes, the flames of the twilight fought onward.
And the leaves fell in the water of your soul.
Clasping my arms like an ascending vine entwined,
the leaves picked up your voice, which is slow and calm.
Bonfire of awe in which my thirst was burning, unquenched.
Sweet blue hyacinth twisted about my soul.
I sense, I feel your eyes and autumn is a long way off:
gray beret, voice of a bird and heart of a house
Toward that place where my deepest of yearnings migrated
and my happy kisses fell like embers.
Sky from a ship. Field from the mountains.
Your memory is made of light, of smoke, of a still pond!
Far beyond your eyes, the twilights burned.
Dry autumn leaves were turning in your soul.
Like “Un amor,” “Te recuerdo como eras en el último otoño” (“I remember you as you were last autumn”) is about love and loss.
This poem does not rhyme and has some pretty advanced vocabulary, so it’s probably best for advanced speakers or particularly ambitious beginning and intermediate speakers.
There are a number of interesting vocabulary words you might be unfamiliar with: boina (beret), llamas (flames), crepúsculo (twilight), hoguera (bonfire), torcido (twisted), anhelos (desires), brasa (hot coal/ember), estanque (pond) and girar (to turn/spin).
¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas
en mi pupila tu pupila azul.
¡Que es poesía!, Y tú me lo preguntas?
Poesía… eres tú.
What is poetry, you say, while
your blue eyes sink deep into mine.
What is poetry? You ask me this?
Poetry… is you.
“¿Qué es poesía?” (“What is Poetry?”) basically compares the author’s beloved to poetry, so it’s a great poem to read to your significant other.
It’s incredibly brief (just four lines), so it should be easy for any level of Spanish speaker to master.
The most difficult vocabulary word is clavar, which generally translates as “to nail/drive/thrust,” but in this instance means “to fix/lock.”
7. “Hora tras hora” (Hour After Hour) by Rosalía de Castro
Hora tras hora, día tras día,
Entre el cielo y la tierra que quedan
Eternos vigías,
Como torrente que se despeña
Pasa la vida.
Devolvedle a la flor su perfume
Después de marchita;
De las ondas que besan la playa
Y que una tras otra besándola expiran
Recoged los rumores, las quejas,
Y en planchas de bronce grabad su armonía.
Tiempos que fueron, llantos y risas,
Negros tormentos, dulces mentiras,
¡Ay!, ¿en dónde su rastro dejaron,
En dónde, alma mía?
Between the earth and sky that keep
eternal watch,
like a rushing headlong torrent
life passes on.
Restore fragrance to the flower
after it withers;
From the waves that caress the beach
and one after the other die in that caress,
gather the murmurs and the complaints
and engrave on plates of bronze their harmony.
Times now past, tears and laughter,
dark afflictions, soothing falsehoods,
Ah, where do they leave their mark,
tell me where my soul!
“Hora tras hora” (“Hour After Hour”) literally discusses nature, but it seems to be a metaphor for love.
This poem uses a little bit of rhyme and is relatively short (15 lines), so it shouldn’t be too hard to learn. It’s most appropriate for intermediate level speakers.
Some words to watch out for are vigías (watchmen), despeñar (to throw/fall over a cliff) and marchitar (to wither).
Nadie comprendía el purfume
de la oscura magnolia de tu vientre.
Nadie sabía que martirizabas
un colibrí de amor entre los dientes.
Mil caballitos persas se dormían
en la plaza con luna de tu frente,
mientras que yo enlazaba cuatro noches
tu cintura, enemiga de la nieve.
Entre yeso y jazmines, tu mirada
era un pálido ramo de simientes.
Yo busqué, para darte, por mi pecho
las letras de marfil que dicen siempre,
siempre, siempre: jardin de mi agonia,
tu cuerpo fugitivo para siempre,
la sangre de tus venas en mi boca,
tu boca ya sin luz para mi muerte.
No one understood the perfume
of the dark magnolia of your belly.
No one knew you martyred
a hummingbird of love between those teeth.
A thousand Persian carousels slept
in the moon plaza of your forehead,
while four nights I lashed myself
to your waist, enemy of snow.
Among the plaster and jasmine, you saw
I was a pallid branch of seeds.
I sought through my breast
to give you letters of ivory saying always,
always, always: garden of my last breath,
your body escaped forever,
the blood of your veins in my mouth,
your mouth already without light for my death.
“Gacela del amor imprevisto” means “Gacela of Unforeseen Love.” A gacela is simply a type of Arabic verse.
The poem focuses on despair over faded passions. Though the poem is actually about the decline of civilization, it can be seen as a romantic poem.
This poem uses rhyme which will make it easier to speak and/or memorize. However, the vocabulary and content are slightly heavier, so this would be better for intermediate and advanced Spanish speakers.
Some words that could trip you up include martirizar (to martyr), colibrí (hummingbird), enlazar (to link), yeso (plaster), pálido (pale) and marfil (ivory).
9. “Llama de amor viva” (Living Flame of Love) by San Juan de la Cruz
¡Oh llama de amor viva
que tiernamente hieres
de mi alma en el más profundo centro!
Pues ya no eres esquiva
acaba ya si quieres,
¡rompe la tela de este dulce encuentro!
¡Oh cauterio suave!
¡Oh regalada llaga!
¡Oh mano blanda! ¡Oh toque delicado
que a vida eterna sabe
y toda deuda paga!
Matando, muerte en vida has trocado.
¡Oh lámparas de fuego
en cuyos resplandores
las profundas cavernas del sentido,
que estaba oscuro y ciego,
con estraños primores
calor y luz dan junto a su querido!
¡Cuán manso y amoroso
recuerdas en mi seno
donde secretamente solo moras,
y en tu aspirar sabroso
de bien y gloria lleno,
cuán delicadamente me enamoras!
Oh white hot flame of passion,
how carefully you scorch me
in the center of my soul’s deepest part!
No longer are you distant
attain it if you wish now,
rip the curtain for our sweet rendevous.
Oh cautery so pleasant!
Oh medicated ulcer!
With a delicate, soft hand and light touch
that endless life it knows of
and every debt it pays back,
And by killing, you have changed death to life.
Oh lambent flaming lanterns
in whose resplendent flickers
the deep underground caverns of my soul
that once were blind and sullen
with exquisite strange beauty
to their lover shine warm, glorious light.
So lovesome and so peaceful
you call within my bossom
where in secret isolation you reside;
and in your fragrant breathing
so full of glorious virtue
with such splendor you enkindle my love.
“Llama de amor viva” (“Living Flame of Love”) is about the connection between love and pain, but it portrays that pain in a positive light.
It has a strong rhyming scheme, but it also has some challenging words, so while it’s easy enough to memorize, you might need to work harder to learn all the vocabulary.
A few key vocabulary words to pay attention to are llama (flame), tiernamente (tenderly), herir (to wound/injure), esquiva (elusive), cautiverio (captivity), llaga (wound), trocar (to barter), manso (meek) and morar (to dwell).
10. “Soneto XXVII” (Sonnet XXVII) by Garcilaso de la Vega
Amor, amor, un hábito vestí
el cual de vuestro paño fue cortado;
al vestir ancho fue, más apretado
y estrecho cuando estuvo sobre mí.
Después acá de lo que consentí,
tal arrepentimiento me ha tomado,
que pruebo alguna vez, de congojado,
a romper esto en que yo me metí.
Mas ¿quién podrá de este hábito librarse,
teniendo tan contraria su natura,
que con él ha venido a conformarse?
Si alguna parte queda por ventura
de mi razón, por mí no osa mostrarse;
que en tal contradicción no está segura.
Naked you are simple as one of your hands;
Smooth, earthy, small, transparent, round.
You΄ve moon-lines, apple pathways
Naked you are slender as a naked grain of wheat.
Naked you are blue as a night in Cuba;
you΄ve vines and stars in your hair.
Naked you are spacious and yellow
as summer in a golden church.
Naked you are tiny as one of your nails;
curved, subtle, rosy, till the day is born,
and you withdraw to the underground world.
As if down a long tunnel of clothing and of chores;
your clear light dims, gets dressed, drops its leaves,
and becomes a naked hand again.
“Soneto XXVII” (“Sonnet XXVII”) is about how love causes both joy and sorrow and how those two feelings go hand in hand.
The tight rhyming scheme in this poem will make it easy for anyone to memorize, and it’s also relatively brief.
There are, however, some vocabulary words that might be unfamiliar such as paño (cloth), ancho (wide), apretado (tight), estrecho (narrow), congojado (distressed) and osar (to dare).
With these 10 romantic poems in your repertoire, you’re ready to learn the language of love!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
