In the poem "If you forget me" by Pablo Neruda there is a huge amount of hidden textual messages. Neruda exaggerates his conflict between his unconditional love for a woman, and his rigid attitude towards her if she does not return his affection. Neruda writes this poem with different emotions that change within each stanza from love to terror. Some of the emotions Neruda writes with words of love and compassion; however, he also states the dangers of love, where he writes harshly because of his fear. He is internally conflicted with the idea of love and happiness and pain that Neruda expresses this idea in his poetry with the use of personification, imagery, and sentimentality. Neruda begins the poem by describing his powerful love for a woman who makes it clear that he will do anything to please this woman. However, this poem also states the dangers of being in love while exhibiting the risks anxiety to open up to love and make yourself vulnerable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayNeruda states this idea about the vulnerability of love with authority with the statement, “I want you to know one thing” (line 1). Neruda sets the tone for the poem in this phrase by warning the woman that he is responsible for the future love conflict between them. Although Neruda begins with a dark and serious tone, he uses personification to convey his message of empowered love. He does this by comparing the delicacy of nature to the charm of love as “the wrinkled body of the trunk” (line 10), and “as if everything that exists,/ aromas, light, metals,/ were small boats/ sailing/ towards those islands of yours that await me" (vv. 12-16). These lines describe Neruda's attraction to this woman's beauty. Woman is compared to "mother nature", the center from which the beautiful parts of nature such as "aromas, lights and metals" come from. Neruda is infatuated with her beauty which drives his emotions of love towards her. In the third stanza the mood of the poem changes radically in its vulnerability of love, “if little by little you stop loving me / I will stop loving you little by little” (lines 18-19). Neruda is expressing the extent of his vulnerability when he loves this woman. He states that he will stop loving her before she stops loving him because of how afraid he is of being hurt by love and the perception that he is in control. Neruda symbolizes this idea in the fifth stanza through imagery. Neruda writes, “To leave me on the shore/ of the heart where I have roots” (lines 28-29), Neruda refers to an island that symbolizes himself and his heart in relation to the woman he loves. His roots tie him to the island where he learned and adapted, but loving this woman means he must move away from the island. This requires Neruda to leave his safe place, which terrifies him. However, Neruda then states that if the woman leaves him on the shore of his safe island, “that on that day/ at that hour/ I will lift up my arms/ and my roots will leave/ to seek another land” (lines 31- 35), he will find another lover and will not wait for her to return to him. Although Neruda is afraid of being so vulnerable, he still longs for love. He specifically wants this woman's love, but if she doesn't return the feelings then he will take care of him and leave. Neruda constantly reminds readers of his authority over his heart and love by always stating that he will find another woman or stop loving before the possibility of getting hurt. Although Neruda tries to have a stern appearance, at the end of the poem he returns to his sentimentality. In the last stanza, Neruda returns to the tone of love and compassion. The last stanza begins with the key word “But” (line 36) which stands for da.
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