To everyone, to
you
Nathan L., L T., Joy W., Daniel W.
Creative Interpretation
- Take your little quilt square and draw one thing that
you think represents Washington State or the Seattle
area.
Mini IO
Historical Context
● 1945: Pablo Neruda was elected to Chile’s Senate and
joined the Communist Party
● 1948: forced into hiding and fled to Argentina in 1949
● Later published the Canto General in 1950
● Began to move away from the highly political stance he
took during the 30s
-Concentrated less on politicizing the common folk and
focused more on reaching them on a level everyone
could understand
Historical/Cultural Themes
● “Art for art’s sake alone….is a bourgeois
waste of time.”
o
functional, wholesome, accessible to the masses,
political
● Neruda did not intend his career to be
focused on his political views
o
merely wished for peace in the world
● (Becker)
Historical/Cultural Themes
- Advocation for the “Common Man”
- Relation to Communism
-
Everything is the same, therefore everything is equal
and should be treated as such
Instead of rehashing Marxist dogma, however, he
concentrated on elements of people’s lives common
to all people at all times.
Neruda’s Life
● Between 1927 and 1935, Neruda acted as a
Chilean diplomat
● Was in Spain during Franco’s invasion
o
Atrocities committed during this time included the
assassination of his friend Gabriel Garcia Lorca
● Prompted his alignment with the communist
party
● In 1948, Neruda fled Chile for Mexico
Neruda in the 1950s
● remember - USSR is prominent at this time
● Neruda had poems published in the US in
the ‘40s and ‘50s despite anti-communism
● in 1950 he became a member of the World
Peace Council
● Partido Revolucionario Institucional in
power in Mexico
o
nationalized industry, emphasized education
Canto General
● Published in 1950, while Neruda was exiled
in Mexico
● The Canto General described the political
and social climate in Chile during this time
○
was eventually banned in Chile
El Fugitivo
● El Fugitivo is the fifth canto of the Canto
General.
● This canto details Neruda’s exile, as well as
comments on the solidarity of the Chilean
people.
Theme: Commonality
“Neruda makes it clear that our most intense
experience of impermanence is not death but
our own isolation among the living. . . . If
Neruda is intolerant of despair, it is because he
wants nothing to sully man’s residence on
earth.”
Mini IOC
Dominant Effect
Neruda uses contrast to symbolize the universality that is
shared by everyone and everything in order to convince his
audience to embrace their similarities and build a sense of
solidarity.
Show universality of the ideas
To everyone, to you,
he is about to convey
silent beings of the night
who took my hand in the darkness, to you, Everyone stands together in the
lamps
darkness of the background
of immortal light, star lines,
bread of the living, secret brothers,
But also emphasizes individual importance to the society
to everyone, to you,
I say; there’s no thanks,
Bread = “sustenance of soul”, something that should be shared
nothing could fill the cups
of purity,
Something that we must do ourselves but all have the
nothing can
capacity to do
contain all of the sun in the flags
of the invincible springtime
like your quiet dignities.
Power imagery
Timid imagery; ironic how this is able to contain
the power described above
Only
I’m thinking
maybe I’ve been worthy of so much
simplicity, of a flower so pure,
maybe I’m you, that’s right,
that essence, flour and song of earth,
that natural kneading that knows
where it comes from and where it belongs.
“On our earth, before writing was invented, before the
printing press was invented, poetry flourished. That is why
we know that poetry is like bread; it should be shared by
all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast, incredible,
extraordinary family of humanity.”
-Neruda
I’m no distant bell
Idea is not untouchable,
not an unreachable goal
nor a crystal buried so deep
you can’t figure it out, I’m just
the people, hidden door, dark bread,
Idea is a
common thing,
when you receive me, you receive yourself
able to
understand
in your very self, in that guest
I am you.
You are me.
beaten so many times
We are one.
and so many times
reborn.
Understand the idea
internally
Common Man
Allusion
To all and everyone,= a fresh opening for the poem, starts a
whole new idea/section
to all I don’t know, who’ll never
= a slightly different audience
hear this name, to those who live
= diversity amongst the beautiful
places of the country
along our long rivers,
= diversity amongst the people
at the foot of volcanoes, in the sulphuric = a theme of knowing
= restatement of the idea of solidarity
copper shadow, to fishermen and peasants,
(accentuated by the theme of knowing)
to blue indians on the shore
of lakes sparkling like glass,
Main Idea of this passage: call to
action
to the shoemaker who at this moment questions
nailing leather with ancient hands,
to you, to whomever without knowing it has waited for me,
i belong and recognize and sing.
Works Cited
●
●
●
●
Becker, Erin. "Colored by Passion: The Political-Poetical Intersect in the Life and Work of Pablo
Neruda." The People, Ideas, and Things (PIT) Journal. The People, Ideas, and Things (PIT)
Journal, 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
“Pablo Neruda”. University of Florida. Web. 17 November 2014
"Pablo Neruda." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
"Pablo Neruda." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 11. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 344345. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.