What does it mean when a girl tells me she wants to do to you what spring does to the cherry tree?

In spring, cherry trees bloom first and then bear fruit, which means they want to be with you until the end. This sentence comes from Neruda's "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair".

The original sentence is: I even believe that you are the entire universe. I will bring you happy wreaths from the mountains, blue bellflowers, black hazelnuts, and many baskets of simple kisses. I want to do to you what spring does to cherry trees.

The collection of poems describes the love between young men and women and the natural scenery, with a strong romanticism color, and is a representative work that reflects his early style. "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair", as the title itself implies, describes the torture of love.

Extended information

Background of the work

Neruda attached great importance to learning from traditional poetry forms, and paid more attention to the innovation of poetry. "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" not only inherits the tradition of Spanish national poetry, but also accepts the influence of French modernist poetry such as Baudelaire; it not only absorbs the characteristics of Chilean national poetry, but also draws from Whitman's I found my favorite form in creation. His poems express his ideals and hopes with strong emotions, rich imagination and vocabulary, and are deeply loved by young readers.

His major works include "Spain in My Heart" and his representative work "Collection of Poems". In 1971, his work "Love Poems, Elegies, and Hymns" won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Reason for winning the award: "Poetry has the effect of a natural force, reviving the destiny and dreams of a continent."

Baidu Encyclopedia—Twenty love poems and a song of despair