Ode to Enchanted Light by Pablo Neruda

Under the trees light
has dropped from the top of the sky,
light
like a green
latticework of branches,
shining
on every leaf,
drifting down like clean
white sand.

A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air.

The world is
a glass overflowing
with water.

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This is the poem that got my attention among the other poems from which I was able to choose. The other poems were good too, but it wasn't difficult to pick this poem as the one that I like the most.

Response to the formal aspects of the poem
First of all, this poem uses several poetic devices that help a lot to make this poem more beautiful and appealing to the imagination. The first one is the vivid imagery device, that can be seen clearly on the first two stanzas: "latticework of branches" and "shining on every leaf". Mean while "a cicada sends its sawing song" appeals to the hearing, and there can be considered as the use of sensory imagery. On the other hand "a glass overflowing with water" is a metaphor because it's making a statement while comparing two unrelated things. And lastly, this poem also uses similes in two different ideas “like a green latticework of branches” and “drifting down like clean white sand”, which can be easily identified for its use of the word like when making a comparison.

Response to the meaning or theme of the poem
This poem is an interesting play of metaphors and similes that are simple and easy to unravel. The light which has been dropped from the sky under the leaves is the sun light or sun rays, telling us this is happening in a sunny day, probably spring or summer since the leaves described are still green. The latticework refers to the intricate work of craftsmanship of branches and leaves that nature is able conjure, painting for us a big and healthy tree. Next, the simile “drifting down like clean white sand”, plays with the imagery of a windy day, that makes the sun rays slide down to earth the way sand would if released on the mysterious currents of the wind.

The cicada mentioned on the next stanza corroborates the speculation of summer time, since this insects can be heard clearly on still, hot mid-days, afternoons, and nights in various places around the world, revisiting the idea of stillness with the imagery of empty air. On the other hand "a glass overflowing with water" is a metaphor that refers to the abundance and lavishness of nature full of life: water overflowing suggests the opulence of nature in all of its splendor in summer days.

Response to the memories or thoughts you have while reading the poem
This poem evokes in me, memories of my childhood while running and playing with my sisters. We would run under the sun or stay under the trees to protect ourselves from its glare during noon. We would also lie down sometimes under said trees, to listen to the soft rustling sound of the leaves and to find shapes of different things in the white clouds that passed over us.

It also reminds me of a book, “El Sol de los Venados” (The Sun of the Deer), a beautiful book that makes me cry every time I read it. I’m reminded about this book in particular because it starts with the main character as a present time narrator describing the rays of sun coming through the windows in her house, all golden and playful, shinning brightly with the motes of dust that her mother lifts up while she sweeps the room they are in. This image is very evocative for me because I used to watch the exact same thing in my mother’s room during the summers when the light was able to come over the high wall behind her chambers. I would imagine that it was fairy dust sprinkling down on me as a gift from this magical creatures.

All in all, it just strikes me with happy and calm feelings, feelings that I associate with the days of my younger carefree days.