The Nature of Neruda

“I have put all I possess at the disposal of the peoples’ struggle," Pablo Neruda: collector, translator, and poet (Austin, 2008, p. 1). During his lifetime, Pablo Neruda experienced a range of emotional highs and lows which he vividly reflected in his poetry. Through separate themes, Neruda endeavored to seek out and describe the essence of life clearly depicted in his own life’s highs and lows. In order to capture the array of poems that depict Neruda’s pursuit to convey his internal struggle with love, nature, and politics, I have chosen to analyze several poems through different poetic eras of Neruda’s career. These poems, as illustrated in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Residence on Earth, Canto General, and From Memorial de Isla Negra, developed four directions of his poetry. In his times of solitude, Neruda explored his calling and sought to convey it to his readers. Combining nature, love, and politics, Pablo Neruda was able to capture the intrinsic value of objects and emotions with simplicity.