I do not want to be the inheritor of so many misfortunes.
I do not want to continue as a root and as a tomb,
as a solitary tunnel, as a cellar full of corpses,
stiff with cold, dying with pain.

No quiero para mí tantas desgracias.
No quiero continuar de raíz y de tumba,
de subterráneo solo, de bodega con muertos
ateridos, muriéndome de pena.

Original text (Spanish)

Another quote →

Variants

by Donald D. Walsh: I do not want for myself so many misfortunes. I do not want to continue as root and tomb, just underground, a vault with corpses stiff with cold, dying of distress.

More quotes by Pablo Neruda

All Pablo Neruda quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Pablo Neruda (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.