“Fabula de la Sirena y los Borrachos” By Pablo Neruda

Todos estos senores estaban dentro
cuando ella entro completamente desnuda
ellos habian bebido y comenzaron a escupirla
ella no entendia nada recien salia del rio
era una sirena que se habia extraviado
los insultos corrian sobre su carne lisa
la inmundicia cubrio sus pechos de oro
ella no sabia llorar por eso no lloraba
no sabia vestirse por eso no se vestia
la tatuaron con cigarillos y con corchos quemados
y reian hasta caer al suelo de la taberna
ella no hablaba porque no sabia hablar
sus ojos eran color de amor distante
sus abrazos construidos de topacios gemelos
sus labios se cortaron en la luz del coral
y de pronto salio por esa puerta
apenas entro al rio quedo limpia
relucio como una piedra blanca en la lluvia
y sin mirar atras nado de nuevo
nado hacia nunca mas hacia morir.

Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks

All those men were there inside,
when she came in totally naked.
They had been drinking: they began to spit.
Newly come from the river, she knew nothing.
She was a mermaid who had lost her way.
The insults flowed down her gleaming flesh.
Obscenities drowned her golden breasts.
Not knowing tears, she did not weep tears.
Not knowing clothes, she did not have clothes.
They blackened her with burnt corks and cigarette stubs,
and rolled around laughing on the tavern floor.
She did not speak because she had no speech.
Her eyes were the colour of distant love,
her twin arms were made of white topaz.
Her lips moved, silent, in a coral light,
and suddenly she went out by that door.
Entering the river she was cleaned,
shining like a white stone in the rain,
and without looking back she swam again
swam towards emptiness, swam towards death.

My first post!

As you all know, I am not too big on poetry, but I hope to change that by being actively involved in this blog!

From the little poetry I do know, this poem by Pablo Neruda is one of my favorites.  I think it’s a beautifully written, heart breaking poem (especially in Spanish) that is easy to interpret.  To me, it’s simply about the destruction and rape of mother nature by humans.  The drunken, selfish men are obviously humankind, and the mermaid, in all her naturally stunning and helpless self, is nature.  But the reason why I like it so much is because when I read it, it strikes up emotion in me (which most poems fail to do).  The first time I read it, I was almost brought to tears.  I felt as if I were there, standing in the middle of the bar,  watching helplessly as the drunk men torment and take advantage of the innocent, yet stunning mermaid.  It’s like being stuck in a dream where you see something wrong happening right in front of you, but you can’t seem to move, as if  you are frozen, or stuck in slow motion.  I even feel that way in real life, when I think about the destructive direction human kind has always and still goes in.  The poem ends on a pessimistic note, “nado hacia nunca mas hacia morir”, as if Pablo was saying that it’s inevitable that we are going to destroy the sacredness of this planet.  I hope I am wrong about that last note though.

Aldo