Poem: Certainty
Author: Octavio Paz (1914–1998) [bio] 
1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<author>
3  <person id="9247" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Octavio</firstname>
6      <lastname>Paz</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1914</date>
10      <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1998</date>
11      <text-value>(1914–1998)</text-value>
12    </life-events>
13    <biography>y</biography>
14  </person>
15</author>
16
Translation by: Charles Tomlinson (1927–2015) [bio] 
1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<author>
3  <person id="11955" sex="1" role="translator">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Charles</firstname>
6      <lastname>Tomlinson</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1927</date>
10      <text-value>(1927–2015)</text-value>
11    </life-events>
12    <biography>y</biography>
13  </person>
14</author>
15
1

If it is real the white

light from this lamp, real

the writing hand, are they

real, the eyes looking at what I write?

5

From one word to the other

what I say vanishes.

I know that I am alive

between two parentheses.

10

15

20

From Collected Poems 1957–1987 , copyright © 1961, 1981 by Octavio Paz and Charles Tomlinson. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

To cite this poem:

MLA
Paz, Octavio. “Certainty.” Translated by Charles Tomlinson. Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. 2026. Columbia University Press. 1 Oct. 2026. <http://www.columbiagrangers.org>.

Chicago Manual of Style
Octavio Paz. Translated by Charles Tomlinson. “Certainty.” Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. http://www.columbiagrangers.org (accessed October 1, 2026). 

          
          1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<poem id="00000027618" titleid="00000027618P01" selectionid="00000027618" primary="y">
3  <fulltext>y</fulltext>
4  <subjects>
5    <subject id="3191">
6      <subject-name>Perception</subject-name>
7    </subject>
8    <subject id="4657">
9      <subject-name>Writing and Writers</subject-name>
10    </subject>
11    <subject id="3471">
12      <subject-name>Reality</subject-name>
13    </subject>
14  </subjects>
15  <sources>
16    <source id="11314">
17      <source-title>An Introduction to Poetry, 11th Edition</source-title>
18    </source>
19    <source id="7406">
20      <source-title>The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz 1957–1987</source-title>
21    </source>
22    <source id="6657">
23      <source-title>Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry</source-title>
24    </source>
25  </sources>
26  (: Variant sources/title :)
27  <sources-variant-block />
28  (:This was specifically set to the root author; change to the selection 2008-03-12 bug 0310 :)
29  <authors>
30    <author>
31      <person id="9247" sex="1" role="author">
32        <name>
33          <firstname>Octavio</firstname>
34          <lastname>Paz</lastname>
35        </name>
36        <life-events>
37          <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1914</date>
38          <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1998</date>
39          <text-value>(1914–1998)</text-value>
40        </life-events>
41        <biography>y</biography>
42      </person>
43    </author>
44    <author>
45      <person id="11955" sex="1" role="translator">
46        <name>
47          <firstname>Charles</firstname>
48          <lastname>Tomlinson</lastname>
49        </name>
50        <life-events>
51          <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1927</date>
52          <text-value>(1927–2015)</text-value>
53        </life-events>
54        <biography>y</biography>
55      </person>
56    </author>
57  </authors>
58  <poem-selection id="00000027618" primary="y" parent="">
59    <citation-form id="00000027618P01" poemid="00000027618" selectionid="00000027618">
60      <title id="00000027618P01">Certainty</title>
61      <firstline>If it is real the white</firstline>
62      <lastline>Between two parentheses</lastline>
63    </citation-form>
64    <fulltext processed="true" processed-lines="true">
65      <stanza>
66        <line n="1">If it is real the white</line>
67        <line n="2">light from this lamp, real</line>
68        <line n="3">the writing hand, are they</line>
69        <line n="4">real, the eyes looking at what I write?</line>
70      </stanza>
71      <stanza>
72        <line n="5">From one word to the other</line>
73        <line n="6">what I say vanishes.</line>
74        <line n="7">I know that I am alive</line>
75        <line n="8">between two parentheses.</line>
76        <line n="9" />
77        <line n="10" />
78        <line n="11" />
79        <line n="12" />
80        <line n="13" />
81        <line n="14" />
82        <line n="15" />
83        <line n="16" />
84        <line n="17" />
85        <line n="18" />
86        <line n="19" />
87        <line n="20">
88          From
89          <i>Collected Poems 1957–1987</i>
90          , copyright © 1961, 1981 by Octavio Paz and Charles Tomlinson. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
91        </line>
92      </stanza>
93    </fulltext>
94    <authors>
95      <author>
96        <person id="9247" sex="1" role="author">
97          <name>
98            <firstname>Octavio</firstname>
99            <lastname>Paz</lastname>
100          </name>
101          <life-events>
102            <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1914</date>
103            <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1998</date>
104            <text-value>(1914–1998)</text-value>
105          </life-events>
106          <biography>y</biography>
107        </person>
108      </author>
109      <author>
110        <person id="11955" sex="1" role="translator">
111          <name>
112            <firstname>Charles</firstname>
113            <lastname>Tomlinson</lastname>
114          </name>
115          <life-events>
116            <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1927</date>
117            <text-value>(1927–2015)</text-value>
118          </life-events>
119          <biography>y</biography>
120        </person>
121      </author>
122    </authors>
123    <other-selections-by-translator>
124      <selection-title selectionid="00000027618">
125        <title>Certainty</title>
126      </selection-title>
127    </other-selections-by-translator>
128    <history-count>0</history-count>
129  </poem-selection>
130  <selection-titles>
131    <selection-title id="00000027618" primary="y" parent="" order="1">
132      <citation-form id="00000027618P01">
133        <title id="00000027618P01">Certainty</title>
134        <firstline>If it is real the white</firstline>
135        <lastline>Between two parentheses</lastline>
136      </citation-form>
137      <fulltext>y</fulltext>
138    </selection-title>
139  </selection-titles>
140</poem>
141