What is the meaning behind Pablo Neruda's sonnet XVII?

Answer 1

First of all there is not one meaning behind a Sonnet. A good sonnet has multiple layers, can be interpreted in many ways and may mean different things to different people. In the end the meaning of a sonnet cannot be found in deduction of rules, methaphors and other style elements - every line expresses what it means to say. Having said that I can give a short explanation of what the sonnet says to me. The first lines of the sonnet proclain how the object of love is not loved by the I. To me it says that this object of love cannot for the I be compaired to anything. It is loved because of who he or she is and not because of any similarity it might have with anything beautiful out there in the world. It is beautiful in itself to the I. The line about dark things speaks to me about a love that is not proclaimed by the I to the world but kept in the heart, remains in the I, in a place that cannot be seen, not be touched but does exist. Coming now to the second "couplet" in which the I speaks of a plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers. I see in this a proclaimation of a love, of a beauty that might not be visable to others and is only appearent to the one who the I loves. The I might see beauty and potential where others do not. The fragrance of which the I speaks might be a methaphor for the way how its love has grown, blooms and gives of a perfume that lives within the body. Love lives within the body where none can see it. The last part of the sonnet is for me fairly straightforward. The I steps away from using the methaphor of growing, of plants and things that bloom but speaks more clearly about what this love is for the I person. The I does not know from where or when or why this love came but it is there. It is a love that is bend on loving and has no other aims, there is no pride in this love it can only love and love in this way because it knows no other way. It is a love that blurs the boundaries between the self and the other - where two people become two halves of a single entity. That is for me the "meaning" of this sonnet but I certainly don't think it is THE MEANING. That is for me the beauty in sonnets and poems.

Answer 2

Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII expresses the idea of love transcending physical appearances and embracing the imperfections of a beloved. The sonnet celebrates the beauty found in simplicity and the unique qualities that make each person special, emphasizing the idea that true love sees beyond external features to appreciate the essence of an individual.

Answer 3

Love Sonnet XI (I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair) by Pablo Neruda, places Maltide as his subject. He depicts himself as a puma "prowling through the streets", before finding and then earning her love. He describes himself as "silent and starving," through this, he does not mean that he is starving for actual food, but instead, for her body and for her love.

Answer 4

Hes dying. he wants his wife to be happy when he passes on.

Answer 5

Neruda is trying to explain how dull and meaningless his life was before he met his lover (his third wife).