Juan Ramon Jimenez: I Am Not I

<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Juan Ramon Jimenez | Next Poem >>

I Am Not I

Juan Ramon Jimenez, Juan Ramon Jimenez poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

by Juan Ramon Jimenez
(1881 - 1958) Timeline

English version by
Robert Bly

Original Language
Spanish

I am not I.
I am this one
walking beside me whom I do not see,
whom at times I manage to visit,
and whom at other times I forget;
the one who remains silent while I talk,
the one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,
the one who takes a walk when I am indoors,
the one who will remain standing when I die.

-- from The Winged Energy of Delight, Translated by Robert Bly

Amazon.com

/ Photo by Marco Raaphorst /

Themes

Death

Honey

Silence

Recommended Books

	Invisible Reality, by Juan Ramon Jimenez / Translated by Antonio T. De Nicolas
	News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness, Edited by Robert Bly
	Platery y yo / Platero and I, by Juan Ramon Jimenez / Translated by Antonio Frasconi
	Selected Writings of Juan Ramon Jimenez, by Juan Ramon Jimenez
	The Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures, Edited by Robert Bly

More >>

<<Previous Poem | More Poems by Juan Ramon Jimenez | Next Poem >>

Now there is no mistaking this as a mystic's poem...

I am not I.
I am this one
walking beside me whom I do not see,

How can "I" not be "I"? And who is this invisible companion whom I really am? Can there be two of me?

Well -- yes. And no. It is not really that there are two selves, but there is a real self, and an illusory self. The illusory self is the self we present to the world, our social self, our seeming self. It is the mask we wear. But we forget that there is a face hidden behind that mask, our real self...

the one who will remain standing when I die.

...our eternal self.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World