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Pablo Neruda Essay

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"The ‘Fickle’ One"?

On his birthday in July of 1954, Pablo Neruda confessed to the University of Chile that "it is worthwhile to have struggled and sung, it is worthwhile to have lived because I have loved" (Neruda 331). In nearly all of his works, Neruda attests to the simplicity, valor, and importance of love, whether for country, "common things," or another human being. Throughout South America, he was known as "un poeta del pueblo," a poet of the people, and his talent for composing such passionate verses propelled him to Nobel Laureate status. In a collection published in 1972, he exemplifies his mastery of language by entwining his own passionate love life with an admiration for nature, producing realistic, yet mystical …show more content…

Indeed, Neruda portrays the persona as a very capricious man (Neruda 2, 10).

The Chilean poet further perpetuates a negative view of the persona through the utilization of violent imagery. For example, the "dark girl . . . lashe[s]" at him demonically with her "tail of fire" (2, 6-7). In addition, instead of merely touching the "pale" girl’s breast, the persona "discharg[es]" the heat of his passion, his "lightning bolts of blood," upon her like a round of bullets (10, 15-6). Both of these metaphors represent his sexual fantasies with women other than the one with whom he sustains a real relationship, solidifying the reader’s initial bad impression. Neruda also employs these fierce descriptions when developing the paradox that contrasts the first and second women while simultaneously generating an opposition to the third woman. This functions as an initial sign of the persona’s tenderness. For instance, in the first half of the work, "blood" has a negative connotation while in the latter section of the poem, "blood" is positive and tender, suggesting love and life (6, 16, 21). The persona acknowledges his soul mate as his reason for being and the force that sustains him spiritually and physically. Similarly, the author uses contrasting diction again to liken the fair girl to a "golden plant," fertile and valuable; however, his

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