An Apple . . . that inspired the most influential of poets-Pablo Neruda!

 Hey. 

One chore of being a teacher that I enjoy is making syllabi. I get to do what I love the most--exploring literature, and reading widely and wildly. When I was doing just that this week, I read some wonderful poems by Pablo Neruda (1904 to 1973) the Nobel Prize-winning poet-diplomat from Chile. His poems are mostly sensual and erotic but beautifully imbued with an earthy sensibility. He was born Ricardo Eliezer Neftali Reyes Y Basoalto. Pablo Neruda is his pseudonym. In fact, he was famous when he completed his schooling, many of his poems were published and won many prizes. He is also considered the National Poet of Chile. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, another Nobel Laureate from Colombia, said that Neruda is one of the most widely read and influential poets in any language of the 20th Century. 

Trivia about 'ode'

"An 'Ode' (originally from Greek) is an elaborately structured poem that celebrates, glorifies a person, an event or nature describing it emotionally and intellectually" In fact, they were performed with musical accompaniments during performances. With time, it continued to be written as a poem to be read.

 No wonder the poet thought it fit to celebrate 'apple' in his poem. 

 Here it is   

 An Ode to the Apple

You, apple,

are the object
of my praise.
I want to fill
my mouth
with your name.
I want to eat you whole.
You are always
fresh, like nothing
and nobody.
You have always
just fallen
from Paradise:
dawn’s
rosy cheek
full
and perfect!
Compared
to you
the fruits of the earth
are
so awkward:
bunchy grapes,
muted
mangos,
bony
plums, and submerged
figs.
You are a pure balm,
fragrant bread,
the cheese
of all those flowers.
When we bite into
your round innocence
we too regress
for a moment
to the state
of the newborn:
there’s still some apple in us all.
I want
total abundance,
your family
multiplied.
I want
a city,
a republic,
a Mississippi River
of apples,
and I want to see
gathered on its banks
the world’s
entire
population
united and reunited
in the simplest act, we know:
I want us to bite into an apple.

Dear Reader, hope you enjoyed reading the poem and do share your favourite poem👇

Please share your comments at rekhadatta02@gmail.com or message me @rekhadatta1 on Instagram. I shall send the links to you personally. Thanks for your patience.