Body of a Woman by Pablo Neruda
Body of a Woman
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 makes the son leap from the depth of the earth.
I was lone like a tunnel. The birds fled from me, and nigh swamped me with its crushing invasion.
To survive myself I forged you like a weapon, like an arrow in my bow, a stone in my sling.
But the hour of vengeance falls, and I love you.
Body of skin, of moss, of eager and firm milk.
Oh the goblets of the breast! Oh the eyes of absence!
Oh the roses of the pubis! Oh your voice, slow and sad!
Body of my woman, I will persist in your grace.
My thirst, my boundless desire, my shifting road!
Dark river-beds where the eternal thirst flows and weariness follows, and the infinite ache. (pg.162) In the poem, Body of a Woman, by Pablo Neruda there is a dual imagery of who the subject of the poem is. Neruda can be talking about either the obvious image of an actual woman that is most likely his lover, but the other image that is not as evident is that he could be talking about his love for Mother Earth. In the first quatrain, " Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender."(pg. 162), I notice, Neruda is using the body of a woman as a metaphor for the earth- Mother Earth, giver of live and himself as a metaphor for mankind to describes his own body as rough, peasant and unworthy by comparison, digging into her, spoiling her, "My rough peasant's body digs in you"(pg.162). In the fourth line, he describes the son leaping from the depth of the earth, a metaphor for the birth that is inevitable when earth and mankind, or woman and man, intermingle. The son, the by product, is the impact that mankind has had on the earth. In the second quatrain of the poem, Neruda describes himself as empty as a tunnel leaving nature scattered in his wake, "I was alone like a tunnel. The birds fled from me, and nigh swamped me with its
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 makes the son leap from the depth of the earth.
I was lone like a tunnel. The birds fled from me, and nigh swamped me with its crushing invasion.
To survive myself I forged you like a weapon, like an arrow in my bow, a stone in my sling.
But the hour of vengeance falls, and I love you.
Body of skin, of moss, of eager and firm milk.
Oh the goblets of the breast! Oh the eyes of absence!
Oh the roses of the pubis! Oh your voice, slow and sad!
Body of my woman, I will persist in your grace.
My thirst, my boundless desire, my shifting road!
Dark river-beds where the eternal thirst flows and weariness follows, and the infinite ache. (pg.162) In the poem, Body of a Woman, by Pablo Neruda there is a dual imagery of who the subject of the poem is. Neruda can be talking about either the obvious image of an actual woman that is most likely his lover, but the other image that is not as evident is that he could be talking about his love for Mother Earth. In the first quatrain, " Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender."(pg. 162), I notice, Neruda is using the body of a woman as a metaphor for the earth- Mother Earth, giver of live and himself as a metaphor for mankind to describes his own body as rough, peasant and unworthy by comparison, digging into her, spoiling her, "My rough peasant's body digs in you"(pg.162). In the fourth line, he describes the son leaping from the depth of the earth, a metaphor for the birth that is inevitable when earth and mankind, or woman and man, intermingle. The son, the by product, is the impact that mankind has had on the earth. In the second quatrain of the poem, Neruda describes himself as empty as a tunnel leaving nature scattered in his wake, "I was alone like a tunnel. The birds fled from me, and nigh swamped me with its