Syllable and Word Count Poem: In the Wave Strike over Unquiet Stones

Pablo Neruda was born in Parral, Chile. He studied in Santiago in the twenties. From 1927 to 1945 he was the Chilean consul in Rangoon, in Java, and then in Barcelona. He joined the Communist Party after the Second World War. Between 1970 and 1973 he served in Allende’s Chilean Government as ambassador to Paris. He died shortly after the coup that ended the Allende Government.

In the wave-strike over unquiet stones

by: Pablo Neruda

In the wave-strike over unquiet stones

the brightness bursts and bears the rose

and the ring of water contracts to a cluster

to one drop of azure brine that falls.

O magnolia radiance breaking in spume,

magnetic voyager whose death flowers

and returns, eternal, to being and nothingness:

shattered brine, dazzling leap of the ocean.

Merged, you and I, my love, seal the silence

while the sea destroys its continual forms,

collapses its turrets of wildness and whiteness,

because in the weft of those unseen garments

of headlong water, and perpetual sand,

we bear the sole, relentless tenderness.

1.  Poetic devices

     The poem “In the wave-strike over unquiet stones” is one example of free-form poem. It is so called because no rhyme and rhythm are found in the arrangement of this poem. Neruda, the writer of the poem, tried to use the repetition of the same sound at he beginning of several words, or “Alliteration” as his way of using the language within the poem. The example of “Alliteration” is in the second line:  “the brightness bursts and bears” where the initials are in voiced sound. His way of using voiced sound is to show that he wanted to say something gently. The writer also uses “Personification” to mean the “unquiet stones” as the witnesses of his truly feeling. Neruda, then, applied the comparison “Metaphor” to express his feeling to his beloved girl who is full of radiance from the spume.

2.  Poetic Diction

     a.  Neruda employs the poem by using “Denotation” as well as “Connotation to strengthen the style of his poem. Some words related to “Denotation” are:

          -    Wave-strike: the hit of the sea wave

          -    Stones: rocks

          -    Water: a clear liquid, without color or taste, which falls from the sky as     rain and is necessary for the animal and plan life

          -    Brine: salty water

          -    Ocean: large sea

          -    Sea: a large area of salty water, smaller than ocean

          -    Destroys: to damage something

          -    Sand: a substance that is found in the beach

     b.  The words that are included in “Connotation” are:

          -    The weft: the drop of sea water

          -    Turrets: the sea wave

          -    Garment : the sea

          -    Flower: a girl

          -    Tenderness: young

3.  Setting

     The setting of place is at the sea shore with some stones. The time is in the afternoon.

4.  Symbol

     The symbol used in the poem above is “Magnolia,” a kind of tree that is white, pink, yellow, and purple. It symbolizes the beautiful girl.

5.  Tone

     Admirable

6.  Point of View

     The writer wants to show the greatness of his love to his girl as magnolia radiance breaking in spume.

7.   Message

     We should consider that in loving someone, we might find some obstacles in our life. However, such obstacles could be faced if we have a principle

8.  Comment

     The words usage of this poem seems not too difficult for young learners as in the level of MTs. because the words are mostly used in “Denotation” meaning. However, to teach the message seems not so appropriate because the poem talks about the feeling of a man towards his beloved beautiful girl.

Analyzed by Sahdan and Ajis Ahmad

Picture by Google