ShmoopTube

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I’m Explaining a Few Things, a la Shmoop.

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Boy, what a downer.

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Here we were, expecting to hear more about lilacs, rain and birds…

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…and then this poem switches gears on us and becomes all about bombing, bandits and

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dying children.

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Let’s take a quick look at the end of Pablo Neruda’s famous poem:

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And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry speak of dreams and leaves

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and the great volcanoes of his native land?

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Come and see the blood in the streets. Come and see

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The blood in the streets. Come and see the blood

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In the streets! What is this moody poet trying to do here?

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Why does he want us to come and see all the blood so badly?

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Can’t he just save us the trip and tell us about it?

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Is he trying to shame us?

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Clearly, Neruda is disgusted by the way his countrymen have been treated…

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…and appalled by what they have had to endure.

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Is this one of those “humankind is inherently evil” poems…

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…where he’s venting about how violent we have become, and trying to guilt us into

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taking a good, long look at ourselves?

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Not that we don’t love to look at ourselves… Or is it a call to action?

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His country was still in turmoil when this poem was written…

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…was he reaching out to his readers, to inform them of the conditions and inspire

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individuals to come to Spain’s aid?

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Maybe that’s why he wants the reader to “come and see the blood in the streets”…

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Then again, while this poem seems to be mainly about tragic events…

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…is it possible that it’s more about… poetry itself?

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Neruda was a poet, so… obviously, poetry was important to him.

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He insinuates that he is unable to write verse about some of the things his literary predecessors

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have…

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…because there is too much devastation around him to discuss trivial matters of nature.

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Why was he compelled to write about such depressing material?

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Maybe writing a limerick or two might have cheered him up?

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Was it a guilt trip?

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A cry for help?

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Or an expression of frustration because his art was being tainted?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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