Symbols Of Love By Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda is a Latin American poet, and is most highly regarded for producing sensual, heartfelt love poetry. Sonnet XVII was included in his book of One Hundred Love Sonnets, all of which were written for Neruda’s third wife, Matilde Urrutia. Sonnet XVII subtly mocks traditional love songs by comparing his love against cliché symbols of love. By analyzing the poem, the type of love, gender constructions, poetic techniques and structure is established.

The poem can be interpreted as expressing romantic love. The subject of the poem reveals that the type of love Neruda believes he and his love experience is eternal and true love. The subject of the poem can be understood through analysing the most significant lines. The poem begins by explaining that he doesn’t love his paramour as if she were, “rose of salt, topaz or arrow of carnations,” which are all stereotypical symbols of beauty. He continues to say why he does love her. The line stating that he loves her, “Secretly, between the shadow and the soul,” reveals that he keeps his love deep in his soul and heart. One reading of this could be because their love is so unique other people would not understand it. The metaphor of, “I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,” Neruda compares his lover to a flower that …show more content…
Sonnet XVII is structured as a Petrarchan sonnet, divided into the octare, volta and sextet. The first eight lines of the sonnet are the octare, and usually describe a problem. In the poem, the octare offers the problem of the protagonist not understanding what type of love they have. Lines 9-10 display the shift between the octare and the sextet, known as the volta. The sextet offers a resolution to the problem, where Neruda decides that he doesn’t understand how or why he loves her, but just does