Pablo Neruda Macchu Picchu Response

The poem "Canto XII from the Heights of Macchu Picchu" is at first a poem reflecting the laborious lives of the Incas during the reign of the Conquistadors. Pablo Neruda seems to be sympathizing with the Incas' situation at the time. He is also comparing that time period to the 1960's; his time period. He states that through our revolt may your revolutionary spirit guide us in our battle against our oppressors; our conquistadors.

This poem almost seems to be a poem about learning from mistakes. The Incas did not fight back against their oppressors and therefore lacked any power and restrained their revolutionary spirits from fighting back. As Neruda looks back on the Incas' mistake, he believes taking action is far more efficient than being passive aggressive. This poem is about mistakes learned from the past and continuing that centuries old revolutionary spirit past down from generation to generation.