Leila Esme
A Dog Has Died
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.
Some day I'll join him right there,
but now he's gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I'll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.
Ai, I'll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.
No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he'd keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.
Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea's movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean's spray.
Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.
There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don't now and never did lie to each other.
So now he's gone and I buried him,
and that's all there is to it.
-----Pablo Neruda
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-dog-has-died/
The narrator reflects on the life and death of his dog. He had to bury his best friend, and now feels solemn and alone, as pictured by the single solitary grave.
Pablo Neruda
- Born in Southern Chile July 12, 1904
- Sold possessions to publish first book, Twilight, in 1923
- Used Pablo Neruda as pseudonym because his family disapproved
- Political diplomat- Chilean consul in Buenos Aires
- Outspoken loyalist in Spanish Civil War (1936)
- Chilean Consul to Mexico
- Joined communist party. Exiled later for it
- Returned to Chile and married 3rd wife
- Died of cancer September 23, 1973
A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda, the narrator grieves for the loss of his dog. The Narrator remembers good times he had with the dog and how much he loved it, as well as ponders the afterlife for his lost friend. He almost is hesitant to romanticize his relationship with the dog, but dares to dream of a heaven he had now previously imagined; a heaven for dogs. The narrator had a loving and mutual relationship with his dog; they were not codependent on each other and loved each other in a harmonious and symbiotic relationship. The dogs tail is described in a simile as "fan like", referring to how dogs wag their tails when happy or excited, having a constant motion. He compares the dogs friendship to a star, being always there but not tangible. The narrator uses imagery to describe the long walks he used to take with his dog: "lonely winter of Isla Negra where the wintering birds filled the sky and my hairy dog was jumping about...sniffing away with his golden tail held high, face to face with the ocean's spray." The narrator also personifies his deceased dog, "we don't now and never did lie to each other," which shows his feelings of companionship with the dog and how they had a love beyond owner and pet. There is no rhyme in this poem. The speaker feels lost and disjointed, and rhyme often creates a childish singsongy effect, which would not fit the poem well. The tone of A Dog Has Died is sorrowful, while also wistful: very bittersweet. The speaker is upset by the loss of his dog, but does not want to fully show it: " I'll not speak of sadness here on earth." He instead looks back fondly on the dogs life and their relationship. The theme of A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda is that we should not lament in death, nor be too sentimental, as death is a sad but real part of life.
This poem expresses the feelings of a man who's dog has died, which are grieving, loneliness and nostalgia. He's reminiscing on all the times that his dog stayed with him and listened or went places with him. Without his friend, he feels rather empty, but in the poem he acts a bit less sad than an average grieving person, since he knows death is a part of life. The theme is that he simply buries the dog without much mourning, but remembers him for a long, long time. His dog was not as friendly as most dogs, but he was there when the speaker needed it, and that was what mattered.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker reminisce on all the good times he had with his dog, the narrator talks about the dog as if he was human. The speaker feels vacant without his dog but is also a little understanding knowing that death is natural and dying happens to every living thing. The speaker expresses how there are no goodbyes meaning that he shall move on but his dog will missed by his owner. The theme is that death is natural there is there nothing you can do about it, yes you can be sad but don't stop your life because of death.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker reminisces on the memories he had with his dog, talking about the dogs tail and how the dog would act around him. The love that the speaker has for his dog is never ending and he makes that very prominent, along with the fact that he missed his dog very much. He speaks of the dog as if he acted as a savior to him, or emotional support and touches in the fact that his dog was very therapeutic and helped him with his sadness. He will always remember his dog and although death is inevitable, the memory of his dog will live on forever.
ReplyDelete