Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda's poetry was written in spanish and the title of the poem is left untranslated which is important because the title means 'song'. The poem is in effect, a song to and for the working people of chile and since the 'song' was written to them the title is more significant when left in it's original language. In his song Neruda calls on the people to lift themselves up and out of the class's oppression. He tells them to use their grievances to their own advantage and to even use him as they please for their own purposes because he is one of them himself.

The poem varies subtly from a harsh reality and an exaggerated grotesque . He says that they have been buried in "the depths sown by [their] own sorrows" then suggests that they "light the axes gleaming with [their] blood." He then tells them to sharpen their knives of their pain and "thrust them into [his] breast". It's a very serious message to the people in Chile during this time because many people were struggling and there was a large movement towards communism and socialism. In his poem Neruda offers himself to the working class people as a voice that they may not have had otherwise.