Romantic Love- Love Sonnet 17

Love Sonnet 17- Pablo Neruda

This is quite a cute poem, which you can read here, about romantic love.

Summary

The general idea behind this poem, is that the narrator is in love. The speaker is addressing his lover, saying why he does not love her the same way someone would love beautiful flowers- essentially, he does not love her superficially, but he loves her for he she is on the inside. There is an interesting metaphor about this poem, about the aroma of ta flower, being like the love he carries inside him. His love for her is simple and humble, and there is an image in the way that he ends the poem, with him and his lover being intertwined as if they were one body, and one soul. 

Breakdown

Stanza 1- This poem is considered to be a direct address: where the speaker uses the second person point of view to speak directly to the addressee of the poem. He uses contrast by starting the poem with how he does not love this woman, but it is not apparent until later in the sonnet. "Carnation-arrow begot in flames" is a phrase he uses to describe the brightness of a carnation to a flaming arrow, which shows his passion for this woman. It initially may come off as an anticlimax because roses and carnations are common symbols of love, but this can be interpreted to say that it shows how unique his love is, that isn't like any old rose or carnation.

He then goes on to tell us that he loves the other the way people love "dark things", "in secret, behind shadow and soul."  It shows there is possibly a conflict between the shadow and soul, the conflict which goes behind keeping their love a secret from the rest of the world, making sure its something that stays between them. 

Stanza 2- He talks about the woman as if she were a barren plant, one that does not "flourish", but keeps its beauty hidden. There is a strong imagery in a flower being hidden in winter, when it is not in bloom and looks dead, but we know that during spring, "hidden" beauty will appear. He loves her, from the inside out. 

This is also when Neruda begins to appeal to the sense, this is a very sensory poem (read the overall analysis later, to get a better idea of this).

Stanza 3- This stanza is the one that always gets me. The speaker loves this woman, plain and simple. He does not specify why, he "simple" loves her. It shows the complexities of love, which is one that cannot be explained, it is a feeling which cannot be put into words.

He can only love when "I am not and you are not.". It is a very powerful poem, where two individuals become one, and can no longer be their individual selves, and become one instead. There is repetition as the speaker has now said "I love you" three times now. It is considered an anaphora, because it is always in the beginning, and is there for emphasis.  

There is a beautiful metaphor in the way the speaker describes the way he loves: they are so close that they switch body parts. Her hand in his and her eyes seeing his dreams. It is a love where there are no barriers. 

Overall 

The form of this poem is almost Petrarchan, where it is divided into two quatrains and then two tercets. The first eight lines are filled with metaphors in explaining his love, the next six are him giving up, because he cannot put his feelings into words. There is no rhyme scheme at all, however, which makes it unlike a normal Petrarchan sonnet. There are some rhyming words in the original, Spanish version of the poem, but it is not sustained throughout the piece. This may explain his love for her not being defined by a given set of rules? It would help to draw your own conclusions about this. 

There is a strong sense of intimacy in the poem, especially when he says "So close that your hand on my chest is mine/ So close that your eyes close on my dreams." The setting that comes across is quiet and isolated, and since the poem talks about secrets, it adds to the intimacy of them being on their own. I told you this would be a good poem, guys. It just sends butterflies everywhere. It's great.