Selected Poems, 1956-1968 by Leonard Cohen

'You Do Not Have to Love Me' was also printed as a standalone piece by the Sore Dove Press in 2008, with illustration by Soyehl Dahi. To Cohen, who was still early in his music career, 'Nico represented all the women he had ever wanted and the more she rejected him, the more the poet suffered for the image of the Virgin' (ibid, p. It appeared alongside a number of other poems that reference Nico. The object of the poem, and of Cohen's unrequited infatuation, was the singer-songwriter Nico, who was 'idealized by Cohen and made a subject of his worship' (Mesíc, p.

It does not store any personal data.Leonard Cohen's holographic manuscript for his poem 'You Do Not Have to Love Me' which was first published as one of the 'new poems' in Leonard Cohen Selected Poems 1956-1968 (Viking, 1968). The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other.

The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Because a man who can recognize this, who can know the meaning of this, is a man that should be loved.įrom Selected Poems, 1956-1968 by Leonard Cohen, published by Bantam Books, 1971. Because it is one of the most beautiful poems ever written. I said, someday if a man reads this to me, if a man knows this poem and gives it to me-I will love him with all my heart. I have written it in journals, recited it to myself in the dark.