I must say that Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets. I just wish I could speak Spanish to be able to read them the way they were originally written. I had read many of his poems before (translated of course!) because my husband has a translated book of some of his love poems. It was great that I got to read one of his works for this class. On his poem "We Are Many" he talks about how the definition of ourselves consists of multiple characters. I think we can all agree on this, because we have so much that defines us. We are daughters or sons, mothers or fathers, friends, lovers, workers, etc. A different side of ourselves is shown according to what situation we're in. For example, we're "professional" at work, laid back at home, "moms" to our children, "dauthers" to our parents, and so on. And sometimes the wrong side comes out, and confuses everything. For instance, when we need to be strict with our kids, the "child" whithin us comes out and prevents us from punishing them. I think this is what Neruda talks about in his poem, how he never knows how many different people are within him; and how the wrong side always turns up.
My favorite part of the poem was:
"When everything seems to be set
to show me off as intelligent,
the fool I always keep hidden
takes over all that I say."
(lines 5-8)
For those who wish to read more of him, I would recomend reading another great poem by him. I could never find an official translation for it enywhere, but you can google it and you'll find a couple of different translation. It's called "Muere Lentamente".
Submitted by Luisa DeSousa
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