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IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM

IN THE POEM, "TONIGHT I CAN
WRITE THE SADDEST LINES"
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INTRODUCTION

Neruda’s poems are full of vivid, wonderful

images which are simple but poignant enough
to express the lover's mind and mood in a
given situation. His poems are replete with
nature images which are presented as a
reflection of the lover's state of mind.

''Tonight I Can Write'' by Pablo Neruda is an

emotional poem in which the speaker deals
with the themes of love, loss of love,
loneliness, and a note of hopefulness. The
speaker describes his present situation of
being no longer in love, resulting in his sad
mood that allows him to compose such
moving lines - the “saddest lines”.
The poem is full of vivid,
picturesque
z night imagery.
Now that the speaker
experiences the pangs of
separation, the night seems
to be “shattered”. The night
wind is “revolving” around the
sky while whistling a sad
tune. The “night ...
shattered” symbolizes the
speaker's tormented heart
after the loss of his
love. The image of the
“immense night” is here
suggestive of the great void
in the lover's deserted
heart.
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The nature imagery has been

presented here as an “objective
correlative" of his own mental
condition. This makes the lover
nostalgic and reminiscent of the
happy hours spent with his
beloved under the night sky. The
night imagery acts as a sharp
contrast to his past when,
standing under the vast night sky
decked with twinkling stars, he
embraced his love and filled her
with love kisses.
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The poet takes us deep into the

broken heart of a lover through the
lively imagery: “verse falls to the
soul like dew to the pasture.” The
over-wrought condition of the lonely
lover is emphasized by such vibrant
images as “My sight tries to find
her ...", “My heart looks for her",
and “My soul is not satisfied that it
has lost her”.
 In the final section of the poem the
speaker mournfully dwells on the
change in their relationship: “ The
same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the
same." The poet has wonderfully
drawn the image of the moonlit sky
painting the trees silver. Even at the
moment the night looks like the
same, but the lovers are apart and
away from each other.
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CONCLUSION

▪ To conclude, Neruda has used the

objects of nature as images and
symbols to express the lover's sad and
depressed mood, following the loss of
his love.

▪ The night imagery, drawn so

carefully and artistically, lay bare the
broken heart of the lover who is now left
alone only to pine and recollect the past
days with his love.

▪ It is the idea of love that he loves

more than the woman, and thus he can
write “the saddest lines”.

▪ Tonight I Can Write reminds us of

Neruda's other love poems such as ‘If
You Forget Me,’ ‘Sonnet XI,’ and ‘Done
Go Far Off‘.
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THANK YOU
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