Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII: A Literary Critique

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda expresses what may be the essence of love. He does so by sketching images that describe love's nature through a potent string of words. Vivid imagery, a defining depiction of love, and a careful selection of words achieved with poetic precision--these are a few notable characteristics of Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII.

The vivid imagery skillfully sketched by the author is evident throughout the work. He employs concrete images to communicate the idea he wishes to get across to the reader. Such lines include, "the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off" and "dark things between the shadow and the soul." In the mentioned lines from the poem, the persona suggests that he harbors feelings of infatuation for his lover not as something warm and pleasing as the pale reddish hue of an ember, but as a dark covert secret. The message of the persona contained within the same lines might not have been illustrated as effectively had it not been for the vivid imagery. The persona then compares his love to "[a] plant that never blooms/but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers” and expresses his gratitude to the lover as “a certain solid fragrance/risen from the earth lives darkly in his body.” The poem draws to an end with an image of the persona sharing a singular existence or being with that whom he loves: “…so close that your hand on my chest is my hand/so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.” Once more, the imagery here in the poem’s concluding lines—that of a person, or two persons sharing a common being—does assist the reader in understanding how two people seem to be more than part of each other as they are rendered one and the same by the love between them.

              Another notable feature of the poem is the defining depiction of love communicated effectively by the author. Pablo Neruda plays with the image of shadow or darkness, suggesting an idea on love: that the ‘shadows’ of that whom one loves are overlooked, and light is shed on the poem’s latent yet genuine beauty. This is evident in such lines as: “I love you as certain dark things as certain dark things are to be loved/in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” In love, one always sees the best in his lover in spite of an often misleading façade. The persona expresses this by saying, “I love you as the plant that never blooms/but caries in itself the light of hidden flowers.” Love therefore equally brings out the best in someone as “a certain solid fragrance/risen from the earth lives darkly in [the] body.” Furthermore, love is often unquestioned if one feels it indeed is deeply true as according to the persona; “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where/I love you straightforwardly…” What actually makes love special though is its way of making lovers seem to be of a singular existence as expressed by the lines previously discussed in the preceding paragraph.

                What strikes the reader overall is the careful selection of words achieved perhaps only with a poet’s precision. As a poem, subtlety is evident as a multitude of ideas are only implied through a skilled use of imagery. Subtlety is perhaps one thing that qualifies a poem as good, and this is incontrovertibly achieved through a potent string of words the writer employs at every point in the poem.

                In concluding then, the poem shall strike its reader with vivid and effectively graphic imagery, a meaningful and perhaps relevant depiction of love, and poetically precise diction that heightens both content and form. Love’s essence is conveyed, and the reader is left satisfied and reflective.

Reasons for Hope.Naive and Unrealistic?

Just finished my executive summary of Myer's Conservation of Biodiversity: How are We Doing? 

Admittedly, reading the article did affect my outlook for the future of conservation. I knew I needed to brace myself once the author mentioned that, despite not being defeatist, the article is to be realistic about the current progress of various efforts for biodiversity. Nevertheless, I felt some degree of hopelessness. The present situation was even described to be deteriorating, and the author kept mentioning that even the best efforts to date have only slowed down what it repeatedly implied to be inevitable. I also disliked reading the part on delayed-fallout species, apparently referred to by biologists as the ‘living dead’ for which there is likely no hope unless their habitats are saved. 

Then there was the discussion in our last meeting in my biodiversity class before the break. Many in class said they generally had a negative outlook for conservation's future.

This all reminds me of Jane Goodall's four reasons for hope: the human brain, nature's resilience, the indomitable human spirit and youth. But then, I couldn't subdue surfacing feelings that these reasons may be naive and unrealistic. -__-

Are they? 

Summer Sem and Palawan! :D

Tropical rain forest is nature's most extravagant garden. Beyond it's tangled edge, a rain forest opens into a surprisingly spacious interior, illuminated by dim greenish light shining though a ceiling of leaves. High above towers the forest canopy, home to many rain forest species and the aerial laboratory of a few intrepid rain forest ecologists. The architecture of rain forest, with their vaulted ceilings and spires, has invited comparisons to cathedrals and mansions. However, this cathedral is alive from ceiling to floor, perhaps more alive than any other biome on the planet. In the rain forest, the sounds of evening and morning, the brilliant flashes of color, and rich scents carried on moist night air speak of abundant life, in seemingly endless variety (Molles 2010).

A quote from the second chapter of our text for our ecology class this summer. Just, brilliant! :D
Am enjoying just how inspiringly poetic the text occasionally sounds in certain parts of the book. Am reminded of the popular science books of Jane Goodall and Richard Dawkins whose style of writing convey their common passion for the natural world. :>

--BTW, since I've begun reading our textbook for Ecology, I suppose I'd simply have to resume reading Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth AFTER the summer sem instead :< --

Really looking forward to the coming summer semester. Ineffably thrilled for my two courses: BI 170/.1 (Ecology) and BI 175.1 (Biodiversity & Conservation)!!! :D

My sched for summer 2011!

...and... am going to Palawan once the sem ends! Am eagerly hoping to apply whatever I learn from these two courses! :]

PS
Am also going to have to postpone plans of re-learning the violin and resuming writing by accomplishing at least a poem and a short story after the summer sem... all because I'm finishing up on an initial scan of our Ecology textbook! haha :)