O Pablo.

"It was not you, grave death, raptor or iron plumage,

that the drab tenant of such lodgings carried

mixes with his gobbled rations under hollow skin-

rather: a trodden tendril of old rope,

the atom of courage that gave way

or some harsh dew never distilled to sweat.

This could not be reborn, a particle

of death without a requiem,

bare bone or fading church bell dying from within."

-Pablo Neruda

In honor Hispanic Perspectives we are learning about a very famous Chilean poet named Pablo Neruda. In this poem that he wrote (which is part of a book titled “The Heights of Macchu Picchu) he explains people being made up of atoms and also being reborn. Democritus was one of the first philosophers to talk about this type of thinking, in which everything is made up of very tiny particles, the he decided to call atoms. He made a point to discuss how everything is made of up these “atoms” and that each substance is merely a re-combination of the same type of particles. This is what Neruda is trying to say in this excerpt as well. Neruda as explains in an extended metaphor not to be afraid of death. This reasoning connects to the Epicureans belief of not worrying about death because of how much pleasure there is in the world and not to worry about something that cannot be controlled. Even though Nerudas poems are difficult to understand they do have a deeper meaning that can relate to many reality-like, and ethical problems that are present in philosophy.