Pablo Nerudas Emotional Transition Throughout Life

Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet, and politician born in 1904 published his poetry as

Neruda instead of his birth name Ricardo due to his father's oppression. Neruda wrote

his love poems during his teenage years like Poem XX from the collection Twenty Love

Poems and a Song of Despair. Nerudas Ode to My Suit, and Ode to the Dictionary

were written in his adult life, which consisted of communist politics and poetry

publishing. Nerudas transition from love poems to odes demonstrate the transitional

change in his life. In Nerudas Poetry, he uses syntax, imagery, and use of diction, to

develop positive and negative tones, revealing Nerudas emotional passage throughout

the hardships in his life.

Pablo Nerudas love poem, Poem XX is a depressive depiction of Nerudas

tragic love life during his adolescent years. Written in free verse and strewn with images

evoking the heartbreak and loneliness Neruda is facing after losing his loved one,

Poem XX moves with the crisp realization that Nerudas adolescent years were filled

with pain. Neruda describes the negative emotions he is feeling Tonight I can write the

saddest lines / To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. (19). Neruda

uses syntax to imitate short pauses to indicate his painful thoughts as if they are

physically harming him. The short syntax demonstrates Nerudas emotions of despair

which puts an emphasis on how much the loss is affecting him, an overwhelming

amount of pain causes the appearance of him unable to create long sentences. The

development of a depressive mood and syntax is continued, What does it matter that

my love could not keep her. / The night is starry and she is not with me. (19). Neruda

uses syntax again with long sentences. Neruda stops the use of short syntax to show
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his recollection of thoughts and acceptance of his loved ones passing, but there is still

feel a depressive tone giving Neruda the appearance of feeling defeated. Overall in

Poem XX, the structure of the poem is divided into 2 lines per stanza, but the first

stanza is only 1 while the last is left into 4 lines. The beginning is Nerudas confession

about the sadness he is going through, the ending structure makes it appear as if he is

accepting the death of his loved one.

Also, in Poem XX the use of simple words and imagery, displays the

development of a negative tone. Throughout the poem, Neruda describes the setting

around him and its connection to his pain, The night is starry / and the stars are blue

and shiver in the distance. / The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. (19). The

setting description demonstrates what Neruda wanted the public to view, a world the

same as his, a world filled with pain. Neruda uses simple words like Blue which the

public can understand as a theme of sadness. Also, Neruda uses simple diction with the

word Sing, although the word is typically connected to positivity, Neruda uses it as a

cry of pain. Neruda also uses imagery, night is starry and the stars are blue allows

the reader to view a negative depressive image, putting an emphasis on the sadness

Neruda is facing. The depressive imagery connects to the simple diction of the word

Blue because it is connected to a sad situation. Overall, Neruda shows negative tones

and heartache through the use of simple diction and word choice so the public can

easily interrupt his emotions.

Pablo Nerudas irregular ode, Ode to My Suit is a positive depiction of Nerudas

improved love life and a better outlook on life during his adult years. Written in free

verse and with images evoking the companionship and positivity Neruda is facing in his
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successful adult life, Ode to my Suit moves the audience to the realization that

Nerudas adult life was more successful and positive than his adolescent years. In the

Ode Neruda displays a positive tone and an undying love for his suit, Suit, / with me, /

grow older / with me, with my body, / and together, / we will be lowered / into the earth.

(397). Neruda is displaying a theme of positivity and the strong emotional love

connection he has with his suit, making it appear as his companion in life. Imagery is

seen because Neruda describes the life him and his suit are having, growing older

making the reader picture Neruda and his suit as elders, depicting their old growth

together. Then it says we will be lowered into the earth the imagery of death is

automatically connected with this, helping the reader know Neruda and his Suit loved

each other till death. The theme of companionship and love are seen because the

imagery used are positive and represent a loving relationship. This contrasts his past

love poem of heartache, it seems as if Neruda found a source of light in his life. Later on

the reoccurring theme of companionship and love is seen again, Thats why / every day

/ I greet you / with respect and then / you embrace me and I forget you / because we

are one being / and shall be always / in the wind, through the night, / the streets, and

the struggle, / one body. (397). Displayed as 9 lines giving a love vow effect, this goes

with the developing theme of companionship between Neruda and his suit. This quote is

a big sentence with pauses showing a love vow effect, but also how overwhelmed

Neruda is with love. Nerudas adult odes have a more positive tone than the love poems

of his younger years, indicating that he saw the brighter side of things, or found things

that have strong meaning to him. Neruda structured this ode differently than his other

poems which are structured in multiple stanzas, but this particular ode is one big stanza.
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The one big stanza puts an emphasis on the love vow effect, and it also helps bring a

more positive tone to his ode which is a contrast from his depressive poems.

Lastly, Nerudas irregular ode, Ode to the Dictionary is a positive and negative

depiction of Nerudas life during his adult life. Written in free verse and with images

evoking the hate and later on love and appreciation Neruda has for words, Ode to the

Dictionary moves the audience's realization that Nerudas adult life may have been

very successful, but Neruda still dealt with the same depressive mood as he did during

his younger years. Neruda used his ode not to show his successful nor failed love life,

but to show his path of acceptance for words and perhaps as a poet. In the beginning of

the ode Neruda did not focus much on words but then he began to find love and

meaning with them, I thought I knew it all, and as puffed up as a melancholy toad,

(411). Imagery is seen with puffed up and a melancholy toad the image of a toad

being puffed up gives an impression of ignorance, connecting to Nerudas ignorance

and unappreciation of words, this was a negative tone in the ode. Later in the ode

simple diction shows the change of tone from negative to positive, Dictionary, you are

not a tomb, sepulcher, grave, tumulus, mausoleum, but guard and keeper, hidden fire,

groves of rubies, living eternity. (411) the words keeper and living eternity display a

newfound importance of words for Neruda. Neruda skillfully contrasted these words with

mausoleum to show that at first, he was unappreciative of words, but then he found a

value to them. Throughout the ode, Neruda went through negative and positive tones

but ended it with positivity and love to show his acceptance of the value of words. This

shows how in Nerudas adult life he again faced his ongoing depression or hardships,

but he overcame them and came back to a positive equilibrium.

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In Nerudas poetry, the use of syntax, diction, and imagery, further develop the

positive and negative moods in Nerudas poetry from different lifetime periods. Poem

XX was written in his younger years where there is an obvious negative tone. Ode to

My Suit was written during Nerudas adult life displaying a positive tone with the theme

of companionship and love. This reveals in Nerudas adolescence he primarily

displayed a negative mood, connecting to Nerudas depression throughout life. But his

odes written in his adult life, no longer displays negativity, his theme is positive. This

change in tone in Nerudas life could be connected to Neruda no longer being

oppressed, he publicly was a politician and poet. But, Ode to the Dictionary has a

contrast of both positive and negative showing even in his adult life, he faced hardships.

The oppression Neruda went through in his life could be the root of his depression,

causing a negative tone in his poems. Nerudas successful adult life caused a shift of

tone in his poems, the contrast in theme and tone from dark to positive show the growth

Neruda went through as an individual.

Word Count: 1,499

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Poetry of Neruda- Reflective Statement

My understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work

developed through the interactive oral because during the interactive oral we spoke of

topics involving Nerudas childhood and education, and his political life, this would

eventually all affect his work.

Throughout the interactive oral one major idea, I considered and noticed was

how time and place mattered to Neruda's Poetry. In the beginning, as I read Neruda's

poetry I felt like he admired objects deeply, which is why he wrote odes to them. I did

not think his odes had a deeper meaning and that the subject being portrayed in the

ode, was actually a disguise. For example, a classmate spoke of Neruda's political life,

his supporting communism and his admiration towards Stalin. A connection was made

with Neruda's love for communism during his adult life and his work, Neruda's poetry

had a drastic shift from his adolescent life to his adult life. Neruda's adolescent poetry

was mostly his love poems, the structure and diction were more complex and almost

secretive. But, Neruda's adult poetry was composed of mostly odes, Neruda's odes

were in a simple tone and something everyone could read and understand. Neruda's

simple odes, for example like Ode to a Seagull, was a very communist poem. A

classmate stated that Neruda's simple diction appeared as a way to bring unity to the

general public through poetry, culturally perhaps Neruda was trying to share his

communist views with the public, and his poetry could also then allow him to gain more

political support.

Also, in class I learned how in Chile, Nerudas father wanted him to be a teacher,

the thought of being a poet was almost forbidden. In the interactive oral, a classmate
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spoke of how Neruda began to write poetry at the age of 10, and then at the age of 13

Neruda published his poetry under the name of Pablo Neruda instead of his birth name,

Neftali Ricardo. Nerudas poetry and the success of it were kept a secret from his father,

this helped me understand why some of Nerudas poetry has a secretive or depressing

tone. I believe that Neruda having to hold back from telling his father his true aspirations

must have been emotionally and mentally difficult, this connected to a classmate's

discovery during the interactive oral of Nerudas depression throughout life.

Word Count: 389

Works Cited

Poem XX. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Ed. Ilan Stavans. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. 19.

Ode to My Suit. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Ed. Ilan Stavans. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. 397.
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Ode to the Dictionary. The Poetry of Pablo Neruda. Ed. Ilan Stavans. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. 411.