Pablo Neruda Expressions of Social Passion and Mythical Landscapes

Pablo Neruda is regarded the greatest poet who wrote in the Spanish language to have ever lived. He was a man whose life was devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self gratification and his works are distinguished for presenting expressions of himself as a child of nature, mythical landscapes and social passion. Neruda utilized elements of nature as representations of his visions. These elements have been carefully arranged to construct mental images and figures that corresponded with the context of his writing. In the latter part of his life, his approach in poetry took a major shift, focusing on his passion for justice and the social relevance of his poetry, whilst incorporating the personification and imagery of natural elements.

Neruda uses elements of nature as embodiment of his ideas. Throughout his career, he saw himself as a product of nature. He would continuously incorporate ‘natural’ subjects and themes in his work, somewhat constructing a parallel world to his. He loved the organic feel provided by creatures of the earth and the basic elements. ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ states his past experiences as a lover and shows his explicit celebration of sexuality. In the poem Body of a Woman, he incorporates this technique effectively that he is able to clearly describe his love for the female subject.

“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!”
(pg. 9)

In this stanza, Neruda clearly states how special the subject is to him. He describes her of great beauty suggested by words like rose and by the phrase: ‘Body of skin… and firm milk’ (line 9). He was able to send across his message of ‘hunger to love and show affection’ to subject in the poem by presenting images that were created by his personification of natural elements.

The meticulous arrangements of words of natural elements employed by Neruda created surrealistic images that perfectly correspond with his ideas. The images his poetry produced were never private. He always described his thoughts to the full detail, without regard oh how the readers may feel about it. It was in ‘Twenty Love Poems’ where he developed his distinct writing style and personal pattern of imagery. He was twenty years old when he wrote the poems; which may suggest why the collection is heavily influenced by the theme of fulfilment in terms of love and sexual interaction. In Body of a Woman, his use of words creates images which relate to the recurring themes of love, admiration and sexual desire.

“Body of a woman, white hill, white thighs,
You look like a world, lying in surrender
My rough peasant body digs in you
And makes the son leap form the depth of the earth.”
(pg.9)

The first line introduces the reader to an image of a voluptuous female body; possessing curves similar to hills or mountain ranges. The third line suggests that he finds himself undeserving of this beauty by key words of rough and peasant. In the last stanza of the poem, he justifies himself that even though he is undeserving, he will give his all to love the woman.

Pablo Neruda also presents expressions of social passion by being heavily involved in politics. It was only later in his life when his poetic approach shifted and referenced of the political issues of his time. He possessed an active role during the Spanish civil war in 1930’s writing poems that featured anti-war messages. It was a contrast from his earlier work as he was a man who had never written about anything but himself. In his poem ‘I’m Explaining a Few Things’ he stresses greatly on the negative effects of the war.

“And one morning, all that was burning, One morning the bonfires Leapt out of the Earth Devouring Human beings— And from then on fire, Gunpowder from then on, And from then on blood.” (Excerpts from “I’m Explaining a Few Things”)

Although there was a shift in his poetic approach, he still utilized his technique of referring to elements of nature that created images of his idea. Before the stanza, Neruda describes the part of Spain where he lives in as a quaint society with a harmonious atmosphere. However, the cadence suddenly changes and the imagery of the poem becomes dark and violent. His vision of war in this poem was expressed with anger and painfulness. It was again through the representation of his ideas by elements of nature that he was able to create images providing a strong and clear statement.

Pablo Neruda was a self-indulgent writer; however the negative connotations of the term were far outweighed by his prodigious gift. In his career he successfully presented expressions of social passion, mythical landscapes and of himself as a child of nature. These three expressions recurred in his literature establishing a distinct writing style that cannot be replicated. His respect for nature showed his generosity of his ideas and revealed to the readers a great amount of his physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life. His engagement in politics can be seen as his resolution to his pleasure seeking traits while the surrealistic images he has created proves that through poetry, new worlds could be created.