Analysis of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda - Research Paper Example

Twenty Poems and a Song of Despair The book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair was written in the early twentieth century by a teenaged boy who took the pen name Pablo Neruda. It was both remarkable for his age and maturity and remarkable for its breaking new ground for poetry. The poems are extremely visual and written in somewhat frank language. They are not the polite ditties of the afternoon teas, but plainly erotic and very powerful. In examining his work I even found evidence of more than eroticism. He may have had a forbidden relationship with his half sister. Neruda went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 for his decidedly political poetry and activism. He was responsible for the daring escape of refugees. "Neruda helped some four thousand Spaniards emigrate to Chile on the ship Winnipeg" (Stegmann 428) from the Spanish Civil War, expatriating them to Chile. A warrant was issued for his arrest in 1948 for his political service and activism and his plainly political poetry. He lived in hiding for months with his family. Friends constantly moved them ahead of the police. It was more than a year before he could freely go out in public. He was very recognizable, and in times of dire poverty, a reward is very tempting. Neruda staunchly believed in communism until it proved to be practically impossible and then he switched his allegiance to a more moderate socialism. A surrealist, Neruda used everyday expressions and bold metaphors in the newly popular free verse. His evocative poems are filled with grief and despair in a very direct and simple speech. They celebrate the dramatic Chilean landscape and rail against the exploitation of the native people, and his poems were so sensual that they might have been read in secret by the ladies.(Columbia Encyclopaedia 2009) Pablo Neruda was born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Perrel, Chile. His mother died from tuberculosis when he was just a newborn, and his father worked on the railway, so he was likely not educated. His mother had been a teacher. Pablo`s father did not approve of poetry as a career, so Neruda took the pen name by which we know him, in memory of the Czechoslovak poet Jan Neruda (1834-1891).He began writing very young and was quite accomplished by the time he graduated high school at the tender age of sixteen. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair was published in 1924 in its original edition. Pablo was only twenty at the time. It was republished later in its final edition. Pablo continued on to college to learn to teach French, at the Instituto Pedagógico of the Universidad de Chilein Santiago. It was here that he met one known inspiration for his book of poems: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Albertina Azócar Soto. She may, actually, have been one of the only two real loves of his life, attested to by the many love letters he wrote her over the years. While he had many lovers, they all seemed to end badly. In his poems inspired by her and an earlier love, possibly his half-sister, he expressed a deep and abiding love which is steeped in sorrow. Pablo had many affairs and several marriages, but these two loves lasted even though there was no in-person contact fpor years. They were never named during his lifetime: he simply called them Marisol and Marisombra, Mary of the sun and Mary of the shadow. Mary was, of course, the symbol of purity and the ideal woman. From an online chronological biography, these statements were found. They appear to have been written by someone who was not an English speaker, translated from notes. Or possibly statements, of José Luis Díaz Granados bv Ernesto Gutiérrez Pino , a less than perfect speaker of English. In reading these two short paragraphs several times, I think it is possible that Marisol was his half sister. This is supported by the following paragraphs from notes of Granados’. The first quartet (4 stanzas) of his titled "Poema 15" (Poem 15) is one of the most famous of the Spanish language: ‘’I like when you remain in silent because you are as absent / and you hear me from the distance and my voice doesn't touch you, / it seems that a kiss closed your mouth...’’ But the same poem brought a quartet (could this word be mistranslated? Perhaps brought to a point or corner? Maybe the translation was done orally?) strictly personal, demanding, unforgivable, and flashy which appears in the famous collection of the letters: ‘’How did you remain in silent before when you were younger? / Did you left your hands on your chest? / If you don't tell me so, I will ask it / to your brother, the poet that left for Mexico...(Granados 1953) Neruda was posted ambassador to Mexico in 1938. If we consider that these lines were translated by a speaker of less than perfect English we can extrapolate the missing words and grammatical errors. Also, it speaks oif her as being younger and Neruda did not know Albertina when she was younger, and she was not younger than he, but possibly a little older. It also explains why, in spite of more than a hundred love letters and begging for her favour, Albertina ignored Neruda, apparently never answering a single letter, but she kept them all for more than fifty years. August 2th: Laura Reyes, Neruda’s sister, daughter of José del Carmen Reyes and Aurelia Tolrá is born. The girl will later be adopted by Trinidad Candia Marverde. (Fundacion Pablo Neruda 2010) When we consider that Neruda was barely three years older than Laura and she was sent out to adoptive parents before he left high school and home, it makes sense that there may, indeed have been some forbidden love there. Neruda was likely baptised Catholic and at that time, even impure thoughts were sinful, so it did not matter whether it was ever consummated or not. However, since she was sent away, it is possible that she was pregnant, or, at least, soiled. Her father was working class and Neruda would have never even been accepted into college if such a scandal would have broken. This evidence is compounded by the fact that his father burned some of his work in a rage when he was fourteen. Was writing poetry really enough to cause this, or was the content, itself, because for rage, especially if the lover were both forbidden, because of being Pablo’s half sister and because she was the enraged father`s daughter. It was then that Neruda began publishing under his pseudonym. (Red Poppy Biography 2010) These lines from the second poem of the book: The Light Wraps You seem to hint at a still born birth by his lover. A bough of fruit falls from the sun on your dark garment. This is addressed to Marisol---sol is sun. The great roots of night grow suddenly from your soul, --. Could this refer to the umbilical cord and the trees in the Garden of Eden: The Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? and the things that hide in you come out again so that a blue and palled people (possibly poorly translated “person”? or race? Or a blue baby?) your newly born, takes nourishment. Oh magnificent and fecund and magnetic slave of the circle that moves in turn through black and gold: rise, lead and possess a creation so rich in life that its flowers perish The flowers being the young in infancyhere. and it is full of sadness. How else could a tiny sick baby be? These lines seem like they refer to something more than simply an impossible love. And there is no other reason to make the newly born blue. Perhaps Marisol, whoever she was, gave birth to a blue baby and it died. It is a mystery for certain that will never be resolved, because all the participants are dead. Marisol is the first love and Marisombra is definitely Albertina, and she likely knew about Marisol, having been Neruda’s confidante at school. He may have told her before he ever realized that he loved her. She may also have known that some of the poems were not written for her, namely the first few and number fifteen, even if he did not share any dark secrets with her. Several of these were written before Neruda left home. So it is entirely possible that he wrote them for Marisol. We have no actual date for the compositions, only the publishing. One other slightly suspicious item is that his father refused to support him. This was blamed on the fact that Neruda became a poet and his father did not approve if this as a career. However, Neruda started writing and publishing quite young, well before he left home. He was a mere boy of thirteen when he published his first article and fourteen when he published his first poems. Part of the romance of his work, especially this book is the secrecy concerning the women. Albertina was not identified until the 1950s and Marisol has never been identified. Neruda was quite the lady’s man, so his escapades would have been valuable fodder for the scandal sheets if he had not been so admired for his courage and fortitude in crazy political times. As it was, these were still interesting, but only his political enemies were interested enough to really dig for it. That is how the first love letters and poems were published without permission of either the author or the recipient in 1954in the form of a book titled Pablo Neruda´s Letters of Love, with 111 letters written by the poet in his distant youth and even in his maturity. The blatant plagiarism and violation of intellectual property rights raised quite a scandal at the time. Later on they were republished in their entirety by Albertina. (Granados 2010) Considering the political situation of the time in which he lived and the social attitudes, it is somewhat remarkable that his love poetry was accepted, especially when he was very young. However, it is very powerful and beautiful, especially in the original Spanish, which tends to have more of a musical lilt than English. His political activism would have been enough to make him a hero alone, but when he published his very pointed criticism he became the Picasso of words. In fact, there was an incident when Pablo Neruda was credited for one of Hitler's greatest downfalls, the "Literary Attack" or "Punch to the Face" as some called it, that was believed to contribute to his suicide. Artist Pablo Picasso was granted credit for the action, and Pablo Neruda wouldn't be awarded it for decades to come from Picasso's confession. (Wikipedia 2010) In 1953 Neruda was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize. This is surely documented elsewhere, but I could not find anything else which could be cited. In all Neradu led an exciting life, was quite an itinerant lover, though he also married several times. He had the looks, the reputation and the daring that women often find irresistible. He must have known the entire range of human emotion. It certainly shows in his work. In addition his life was useful, He was responsible for many daring actions against tyrannical leaders and may even have contributed to Hitler`s suicide. Considering all his work, his diplomatic and political service he would be remembered if he had never written a single line of poetry. However, his poetry is timeless. The love poetry will ever sat powerful and emotive and the political poetry will carry truth regardless of the era. It commemorates the work of many heroic political activists, some of whom paid with their lives. Neruda risked his more than a few times. He earned many awards and is hailed as one of Chile`s greatest poets. The book twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is possibly the most mature poetry every written by such a young poet. However, it would be remembered if he had been twenty years older, just for the power and beauty of his words. The mystery surrounding the identity of Marisol and the possibilities that Neruda was also a sinner just adds to the intrigue. We will likely never know the real truth. However, I have proposed a very plausible explanation and the evidence is certainly there. His words show that his libido was active at a much younger age than is common, so it is certainly not an impossibility that he got a forbidden girl, too closely related in trouble. Considering how serious this would have been in his time and place, it is no wonder that his poetry concerns humanity and does not mention religion much at all. References Fondacion Pablo Neruda . 2010 . Biograohy . http://www.fundacionneruda.org/ing/biografia_ingles1904.htm Fondacion Pablo Neruda . 2010 . Biograohy . Red Poppy Biography of Pablo Neruda . http://www.fundacionneruda.org/ing/biografia_ingles1904.htm Granados, José Luis Díaz . 2010 . Pablo Neruda`s Secret Love . Pino, Ernesto Gutiérrez translator. http://www.tiempo21.cu/english/Reading/neruda.htm Longenbach, James. Modern Poetry after Modernism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Neruda, Pablo . 1924 . Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1969) . Red Poppy . 2010 . Pablo Neruda . http://www.redpoppy.net/pablo_neruda_briefbio.php The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Wikipedia . 2010 . Pablo Neruda . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda Read More