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Quote by Octavio Paz

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A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems

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Author

Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz

Octavio Paz (March 31, 1914 - April 19, 1998) was a renowned Mexican poet, essayist, and diplomat. He is considered one of the greatest Spanish-language poets of the 20th century, known for his unique poetic style and profound intellectual depth. more

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“First Snow The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty and what the meaning; such an oracular fever! flowing past windows, an energy it seemed would never ebb, never settle less than lovely! and only now, deep into night, it has finally ended. The silence is immense, and the heavens still hold a million candles; nowhere the familiar things: stars, the moon, the darkness we expect and nightly turn from. Trees glitter like castles of ribbons, the broad fields smolder with light, a passing creekbed lies heaped with shining hills; and though the questions that have assailed us all day remain—not a single answer has been found— walking out now into the silence and the light under the trees, and through the fields, feels like one.”

“Sometimes I sit here and there, seeking that moment of quietness, that moment of emotionless rejoicing in the fullness of nothingness. Sometimes I take for granted the intuitive knowledge of a past that I don't conciously know too much about, and calmly internally rejoice in the finding of old souls who I cross paths with again and again, with a kind warm smile and joyful tired deep eyes that show me way much more than I could express in words, that give me that sense that I'm not travelling by myself, and that ignite that fire in my heart to feel the knowing of the unknowing. I know deep in your heart you know this too, and if I would have the time to reach into space to you, the light within me would whisper 'I love you too'.”