Canto XII Response

This poem presents a theme of suffering, which it relates to the degeneration workers undergo to do jobs that involve creating things, such as farmers and potters. Neruda relates this to the suffering of Jesus, not only through the cross and stumbling imagery, but also through the idea that people can be risen from the dead, which is what the poem starts and ends with. Therefore, the prevalent motive of the poem is the idea that enough by channeling or transferring suffering through many people can be enough to stop death or bring back people from the dead. This, combined with the 'worker' idea, preaches a very obscure form of socialism, i.e., many people working together and sharing suffering can accomplish phenomenal things.