Girl Lithe and Tawny by Pablo Neruda analysis

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Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms
the fruits, that plumps the grains, that curls seaweeds
filled your body with joy, and your luminous eyes
and your mouth that has the smile of the water.

A black yearning sun is braided into the strands
of your black mane, when you stretch your arms.
You play with the sun as with a little brook
and it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.

Girl lithe and tawny, nothing draws me towards you.
Everything bears me farther away, as though you were noon.
You are the frenzied youth of the bee,
the drunkenness of the wave, the power of the wheat-ear.

My somber heart searches for you, nevertheless,
and I love your joyful body, your slender and flowing voice.
Dark butterfly, sweet and definitive
like the wheat-field and the sun, the poppy and the water.

Analysis by Poonam Behura
1st stanza
'Girl-lithe and tawny' refers to the poet's dream girl. This girl appears to have a tanned skin colour and a beautifully attractive form. The poet says that the sun that creates life and forms fruits, plumps the grains and curls sea weeds also invigorates her. It fills her with 'joy' ,meaning, enthusiasm and happiness. The line 'filled your body with joy' in the poem signifies that the sun turns the girl into a playful child that moves her body continuously. In addition, the sun also gives her eyes and mouth the same zeal as her body. In the poem, the poet's dream girl has luminous eyes, meaning, bright and shining eyes like that of a curious and mischievous kid. The girl also has the 'smile of the water', that is, a glorious, brilliant megawatt smile which comes upon her mouth with natural spontaneity like the spontaneous flow of water. Her smile blooms of its own. That along with the luminosity in her eyes makes her look free and active on one hand, but carefree, happy-go-lucky as well as mischievous and elusive on the other hand.

2nd stanza
A black sun is not a natural possibility. In poetic language it refers to the sun rays taking shelter in the girl's black hair. The sun yearns, meaning it wishes very passionately, to hide among the girl's hair strands and remain hidden because it is in love with her. The poet's dream girl 'plays with the sun as with a little brook'. This line significantly describes her personality of being a coquette; it is because she plays with the affections of the sun, deceives its affections (-the sunlight-it being the sun's way of showing his love for the girl)  by continuously moving and playing with it as she does also with the brook. The poet says that his dream girl's playfulness and wandering leaves what he calls 'dark pools' in her eyes, which can possibly mean that the her eyes fail to sense things in dim light after the girl stares remains in sunshine for far too long.

3rd stanza
This stanza reveals the difficulty in the poet's love for his dream girl. This lithe and tawny girl possesses wild unchanneled energy of the frenzied bee, the erratic nature of waves and the reckless power of the wheatear which do not appeal the more sombre nature of the poet. So, all these characteristics of the girl draw the poet away from her like the extreme weather in the noon draws the poet away from it.

4th stanza
The poet claims that the girl's sombre heart searches for the her. This is because in his heart of hearts, the poet clearly realises that his dream girl has gravity in her heart but she is wittingly trying to hide it from the world. Only if she knows that his admirer, the poet, loves her for who she really is, deep and sombre, she can fall in love with the poet. The poet, although disappointed by the erratic nature of his dream girl, in his heart also loves her joyful, moving body, her thin and flowing voice, sweet and definitive nature like that of a dark butterfly; just like he loves the wheat field, the sun, the poppy and the water. This love for her joyful body and random movement seems to be contradictory to the poet's disappointment with those qualities. It just seems like the poet loves his dream girl, no matter how she is, at the end of the day. He only yearns for the girl to be as seriously in love with him as him, to be less elusive and more sombre.

*How do you imagine your dream girl or boy? Do you feel the same way as the poet? Let me know in the comments!
*please encourage me to write more for you by subscribing to this blog and sharing😊

Comments

  1. Unknown15 February 2018 at 21:10

    Great use of words . Please bring more analysis like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poonam Behura15 February 2018 at 22:12

      Ooh many thanks! Why not? U may as well mention the poems u wish to get review on😊

      Delete
    2. Unknown15 March 2018 at 20:36

      Please bring up some more summaries like on Daffodils
      A Psalm of life,Television,etc

      Delete
    3. Poonam Behura16 March 2018 at 06:49

      Okay. Daffodils and A Psalm of life will be available on 19th. See u soon.😊

      Delete
    4. Unknown28 March 2018 at 12:22

      Ahh i love the poem daffodils.. thats a brilliant piece must say ..

      Delete
    5. Poonam Behura28 March 2018 at 12:38

      Hmm, it evokes such a longing to just be happy in the lap of nature

      Delete
  2. Unknown21 February 2019 at 12:49

    Wowwwww!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9 March 2019 at 23:34

    It was very much helpful.. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aleena10 March 2019 at 11:05

    Whose heart searches for the girl?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3 January 2023 at 23:54

      It must be Pablo Neruda’s heart because of the part “My somber heart searches for you”
      I think this analysis could use some proofreading. It wouldn’t make sense if the girl’s own heart is searching for herself.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19 February 2023 at 06:10

      Good analysis of the poem. Keep it on. All the best

      Delete
  5. Anonymous23 February 2023 at 11:52

    Use more simple words.... it's hard to understand with these words

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10 April 2023 at 08:37

    The analysis was even better than the poem itself.

    ReplyDelete

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