Images That Show Neruda's Recurring Themes

Pablo Neruda's recurring themes speak to the place where he grew up in and to his life in general. The common imagery among many of his poems include the ocean and its wonders: beautiful mermaids with pearls, fishing nets and fishermen, ocean waves and water bubbles, as in the poem “March days return with their covert light”. In this poem, Neruda describes the "huge fish [that] swim through the sky, vague earthly vapours progress in secret..." and the "mermaids and spume" that "climb an invisible stairway". His metaphors and figurative language when describing the ocean speak to how he loved the ocean and his early life in general. His dear love for beaches is also evident in the movie Il Postino, where Neruda's house in the Italian island is depicted as being a few years away from the ocean itself. This way, Neruda can simply come out of his hut and write while staring at the coming-and-going waves.










Other common images in his poetry includes Chilean landscapes and ideas of loving Chile. The beauty of this country is depicted in many of his poems. However, he doesn't just love the beauty of his own country, but he praises Latin American beauty in general: just like the title of his poetry collection states, "The Heights of Machu Pichu". In his visit to Peru, he grew as a poet and he "fully" embraced a pride of being part of the great Latin American ancient civilizations.

Finally but certainly not least, a very common image throughout his works is the body of a woman. Neruda was as much a lover of women as any man, and despite being oppressed in his country by society and religion, he dares to openly talk about the sensuality of women.