--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And tell me everything, tell chain by…" description: "\"“And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by link, and step by step; sharpen the knives you kept hidden away, thrust them into my breast, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg" --- # And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by… ![“And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by link, and step by step; sharpen the knives you kept hidden away, thrust them into my breast, into my hands, like a torrent of sunbursts, an Amazon of buried jaguars, and leave me cry: hours, days and years, blind ages, stellar centuries.” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg) > ““And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by link, and step by step; sharpen the knives you kept hidden away, thrust them into my breast, into my hands, like a torrent of sunbursts, an Amazon of buried jaguars, and leave me cry: hours, days and years, blind ages, stellar centuries.”” [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet uses vivid, violent imagery to convey intense emotional turmoil and yearning for connection. **In simple terms:** Intense longing expressed with fierce metaphors. Key Takeaway Embrace raw emotion in expression. Themes love pain connection Mood intense reflective Type poetic dramatic When to use this quote - personal confession - artistic creation - therapy Key Concepts metaphor surrealism Questions to Reflect On - What emotions does this evoke? - How does metaphor shape feeling? A Different Perspective Such imagery may overwhelm some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chain/) [Chain Chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chain-chain-301546/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sharpen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharpen/) [Step By Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-by-step/) [Tell Chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-chain-4682457/) [Years Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-blind-4682458/) ## Related quotes > [A golden chain is as much a chain as an iron one. Shri Ramakrishna used to say that, to pick out one thorn which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/a-golden-chain-is-as-much-a-chain-as-an-iron-one-shri-ramakrishna/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I was a dog on a short chain / and now there's no chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/i-was-a-dog-on-a-short-chain-and-now-there-s-no-chain/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of other approaches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/you-don-t-work-on-something-for-six-years-and-be-blind-to-the-myriad/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [“If you do not sharpen your axe, it will take twice the same amount of time to cut down the same amount of trees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-do-not-sharpen-your-axe-it-will-take-twice-the-same-amount-of/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edsger-dijkstra/about-the-use-of-language-it-is-impossible-to-sharpen-a-pencil-with-a/) [Edsger Dijkstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edsger-dijkstra/) > [Yes, education is the catalyst that will hone and sharpen our talents, skills, and abilities and cause them to blossom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/yes-education-is-the-catalyst-that-will-hone-and-sharpen-our-talents/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [Within each individual young person you meet, you have the same fields to plow. The trick is just to wake thmem up, to sharpen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-fischer-dieskau/within-each-individual-young-person-you-meet-you-have-the-same-fields/) [Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-fischer-dieskau/) > [“ease up. the day was rued when we came upon it, or when it came upon us, and beheld us marring the horizon, sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/ease-up-the-day-was-rued-when-we-came-upon-it-or-when-it-came-upon-us/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [Meditation helps sharpen the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-christo/meditation-helps-sharpen-the-mind/) [Bob Christo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-christo/) > [“Who would sharpen a point aginst the darkness of the world?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/who-would-sharpen-a-point-aginst-the-darkness-of-the-world/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“ADEPT ADAPTATION Potholes on the road of life sharpen our maneuverability skills Kamil Ali”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/adept-adaptation-potholes-on-the-road-of-life-sharpen-our/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [“Watch your dreams and watch our friends. Take time and watch your friend again with sharpened eyes. Turn on your dreams again; watch them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/watch-your-dreams-and-watch-our-friends-take-time-and-watch-your/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Need to sharpen my blade. Make it shiny, gleamy, and oh, so... deadly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/need-to-sharpen-my-blade-make-it-shiny-gleamy-and-oh-so-deadly/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Sharpen your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/sharpen-your-heart/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [If you don't take the time to sharpen your axe, you'll spend your whole life hacking away at missed opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-toth/if-you-don-t-take-the-time-to-sharpen-your-axe-you-ll-spend-your/) [Blake Toth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-toth/) ## More by Pablo Neruda > [For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could-not-live-without-breathing/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Our love was born outside the walls, in the wind, in the night, in the earth, and that's why the clay and the flower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/our-love-was-born-outside-the-walls-in-the-wind-in-the-night-in-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I remember only a day that was perhaps never intended for me, it was an incessant day, without origins, Thursday. I was a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-remember-only-a-day-that-was-perhaps-never-intended-for-me-it-was/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We had, as men, time So our thirst could slowly be satisfied, the ancestral longing to enumerate things and sum them up, to render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-had-as-men-time-so-our-thirst-could-slowly-be-satisfied-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-don-t-know-who-it-is-who-lives-or-dies-who-rests-or-wakes-but-it-is/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-open-the-halves-of-a-miracle-and-a-clotting-of-acids-brims-into/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/take-bread-away-from-me-if-you-wish-take-air-away-but-do-not-take/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Perhaps the earth can teach us As when everything seems dead And later proves to be alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/perhaps-the-earth-can-teach-us-as-when-everything-seems-dead-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I am no longer in love with her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-am-no-longer-in-love-with-her-that-s-certain-but-maybe-i-love-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying-2/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“ I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are absent And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-like-for-you-to-be-still-i-like-for-you-to-be-still-it-is-as-though/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Tonight I Can Write”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/tonight-i-can-write/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) [Explore all 457 Pablo Neruda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More Chain quotes > [If you take away the predators in the prairies and the national parks, you suddenly have an explosion of elk, and then you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-you-take-away-the-predators-in-the-prairies-and-the-national-parks/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [With the very rapid expansion of distribution platforms, we want to be in the supply chain with as many types of programs as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haim-saban/with-the-very-rapid-expansion-of-distribution-platforms-we-want-to-be/) [Haim Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haim-saban/) > [A film is a chain of very difficult decisions, and I think one of them is to choose an accurate cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-camara/a-film-is-a-chain-of-very-difficult-decisions-and-i-think-one-of-them/) [Javier Camara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-camara/) > [I'm the top of the food chain and well...you're the food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-m-the-top-of-the-food-chain-and-well-you-re-the-food/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed critical vulnerabilities in our pharmaceutical supply chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-spanberger/the-covid-19-pandemic-has-exposed-critical-vulnerabilities-in-our/) [Abigail Spanberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-spanberger/) > [What I've been developing is a vegan fast food chain and vegan food markets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-mills/what-i-ve-been-developing-is-a-vegan-fast-food-chain-and-vegan-food/) [Heather Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-mills/) > [“Where are the links of the chain ... joining us to the past?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-dunnett/where-are-the-links-of-the-chain-joining-us-to-the-past/) [Dorothy Dunnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-dunnett/) > [By 2023, we will be the world's largest hotel chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritesh-agarwal/by-2023-we-will-be-the-world-s-largest-hotel-chain/) [Ritesh Agarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritesh-agarwal/) > [Without sharks, you take away the apex predator of the ocean, and you destroy the entire food chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/without-sharks-you-take-away-the-apex-predator-of-the-ocean-and-you/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [One link in a chain explains the infinite chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/one-link-in-a-chain-explains-the-infinite-chain/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Content not thyself that thou art virtuous in the general; for one link being wanting, the chain is defective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/content-not-thyself-that-thou-art-virtuous-in-the-general-for-one/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [There's a weak link in every chain. And it's just a matter of time before this one snaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gossip-girl/there-s-a-weak-link-in-every-chain-and-it-s-just-a-matter-of-time/) [Gossip Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gossip-girl/) > [I'm telling the story, and if I can't tell the story, I'm not going to sing it. And if I don't agree with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-jones/i-m-telling-the-story-and-if-i-can-t-tell-the-story-i-m-not-going-to/) [Sharon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-jones/) > [A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and if one of the team cannot handle the forces, everybody is going to suffer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/a-chain-is-no-stronger-than-its-weakest-link-and-if-one-of-the-team/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [“The chain of command, I wear it around my neck.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-chain-of-command-i-wear-it-around-my-neck/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) [Browse all 236 Chain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chain/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by link, and step by step; sharpen the knives you kept hidden away, thrust them into my breast, into my hands, like a torrent of sunbursts, an Amazon of buried jaguars, and leave me cry: hours, days and years, blind ages, stellar centuries.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pablo Neruda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-chain-and-link-by-link-and-step/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chain" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-chain-and-link-by-link-and-step/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0f/pablo-neruda-435_poetry_and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-cha_1364836.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And tell me everything, tell chain by chain, and link by link, and step by step; sharpen the knives you kept…” — Pablo Neruda", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pablo Neruda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And tell me everything, tell chain...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-chain-and-link-by-link-and-step/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/and-tell-me-everything-tell-chain-by-chain-and-link-by-link-and-step/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```