Pablo Neruda's "Sweetness, Always": Simplicity in Poetry

Introduction: Poetry as Simple Expression

In Dulce, Siempre ("Sweetness, Always"), Pablo Neruda employs several poetic devices to convey a central theme about simplicity. Neruda weaves evocative imagery, extended metaphors, and alliteration into a poetic tapestry. The titular sensation of sweetness remains the anchor holding together the free verse. Moreover, the structure of the poem and its voice are highly personal. The poet establishes a direct connection with the reader, thereby embodying the main message of "Sweetness, Always." The poem perfectly parallels the narrator's notion that art should be about the simple expression of emotion and not about the gratification of the ego.

Stanza One: Rejecting Lofty Language

The first stanza of the poem includes several rhetorical questions, with the opening line, "Why such harsh machinery?" (line 1). These rhetorical questions establish a personal tone that remains throughout the poem. Moreover, the speaker summarizes the point of view that poems are about "the happenings / and people of every day" (lines 2–3). Poems should speak directly to the reader, just as the narrator does in "Sweetness, Always." Poems that are "dressed up in gold" or in "old and grim stone" are out of reach of most readers (lines 4–5). The imagery of gold and "grim stone" suggests that a poet who uses language that is too lofty misunderstands the meaning of poetry, which is to inspire and sweeten lives. To be "dressed up in gold" suggests that poets often embellish their ideas with language that is inaccessible to the average reader. The first stanza therefore establishes the theme of poetry as an egalitarian, universal art form.

Stanzas Two and Three: Softness, Beds, and the Sweetness Metaphor

The second stanza of "Sweetness, Always" develops these themes further. Neruda dives into a realm of evocative imagery that enlivens the poem and employs alliteration to add lyrical depth. The first few lines of the stanza read, "I prefer verses of felt or feather / which scarcely weigh, soft verses" (lines 6–7). The narrator uses the first person, thus continuing the personal tone. "Felt or feather" is an alliterative phrase that complements the tangible imagery of both felt and feathers. The passage also serves as a metaphor, since both felt and feathers are light and soft. This imagery contrasts with the "harsh machinery" of the first stanza, as the narrator suggests that poems should feel as good as objects that are soft, light, and gentle.

The narrator extends the softness metaphor to a mundane object used every day: the bed. A bed is not only a place of slumber but also a place of love-making — "the intimacy of beds / where people have loved and dreamed" (line 8). The second stanza concludes with the narrator's strong stance on the purpose of poetry: "I prefer poems stained / by hands and everydayness" (lines 10–11). The word "stained" directly refers to the bed imagery, as love-making leaves stains in a bed. Neruda deliberately uses this earthly diction to underscore the message about making poems more mundane and accessible to the everyday reader.

The third stanza begins the central extended metaphor of sweetness. As a flavor, sweetness is something all human beings can relate to, and it is also a metaphor used commonly in the language of love. The poet blends these two concepts throughout the third stanza. The metaphor of sweetness is used to suggest that poems should be as direct, simple, and unassuming as pastry "that melt / into milk and sugar in the mouth" (line 12). To suggest that poems should be sweet does not imply that they should be saccharine or dishonest. Sweetness refers to the universal and direct quality of a poem, not to a mandatory tone. The narrator reminds the reader that verses should speak to both "the bites and kisses of love" (line 15). The extended metaphor of sweetness also symbolizes the nourishing aspect of poetry, as the narrator longs for "eatable sonnets" (line 16).

Conclusion: Sweetness as the Human Experience

The final stanza of "Sweetness, Always" wraps up the main ideas of the poem and continues the extended metaphor. Sweetness is described as "infinitely alive," and something that transcends time, life, and death as it is "forever being revived" (line 52). Sweetness is metaphoric — as with "singing" — but also literal, as with "eating" (line 54). Poetic sweetness, Neruda insists, is a crucial part of the human experience.