Poem-Bird

FONTS

Pablo Neruda

Biography

Poem-Bird

• Born in Chile in 1904, died of cancer in 1973

• Pablo Neruda is a pen name- real name Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto

• One of the greatest Spanish language poets

• Extremely devoted to communism

• Very political- served as a consul to Spain and France and a Chilean senator

• Controversial at times- removed from consulate at Spain for poetry during the Spanish Civil War, self-exiled to Mexico after Chile declared communism illegal and issued a warrant for his arrest

• Won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971

Pablo Neruda

Bird

It was passed from one bird to another,

the whole gift of the day.

The day went from flute to flute,

went dressed in vegetation,

in flights which opened a tunnel

through the wind would pass

to where birds were breaking open

the dense blue air -

and there, night came in.

When I returned from so many journeys,

I stayed suspended and green

between sun and geography -

I saw how wings worked,

how perfumes are transmitted

by feathery telegraph,

and from above I saw the path,

the springs and the roof tiles,

the fishermen at their trades,

the trousers of the foam;

I saw it all from my green sky.

I had no more alphabet

than the swallows in their courses,

the tiny, shining water

of the small bird on fire

which dances out of the pollen.

Pablo Neruda

Analysis of Literary Devices

• Uses lots of descriptive language
• Imagery appeals to sight (he describes what he sees), touch ("feathery" and "foam"), and smell ("perfumes")
• Never focuses on one thing for very long- moves from image to image
• Translation of a poem originally written in spanish
• Uses personification to describe things like the day, the sea, and the bird in the end.
• Uses no rhyme scheme and uneven line length to make each thought feel separate from the rest.

Literary Devices

Poem Summary

Sources

Imagery- "I saw how wings worked,

how perfumes are transmitted

by feathery telegraph,

and from above I saw the path,

the springs and the roof tiles,

the fishermen at their trades,

the trousers of the foam;"

Personification- "the tiny, shining water

of the small bird on fire

which dances out of the pollen. "

In Pablo Neruda's "Bird", he explores the sights and feelings that a bird experiences as it flies over the world. He writes it partially from the bird's point of view, and the whole poem is only two stanzas. There isn't any rhyming done, he is just telling a story and trying to bring you into the mind of a bird. The only real character is the Speaker, who is Pablo himself. The subject in the poem is how a bird feels when it is flying, and how it relates to other birds. The idea that Neruda creates is romanticized and worry free, and focuses on things like "the tiny, shining water of the small bird on fire". Overall, the title fits the poem well, and it is simple enough to still be interesting but not betray the minimalistic nature of his writing.

Overall Impression

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1971/neruda-bio.html

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/279

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/pablo-neruda

http://doyouremember.com/it-happened-today-september-23-2013/

• Interesting descriptions
• Different from a lot of other poets because his poems were not originally written in English
• Poem is slightly difficult to follow but still interesting
• Neruda's poems are not easy to translate
• Does a good job of describing what a bird sees, but from his own perspective.
• Makes it interesting with uneven pacing