Table of Contents

Introduction:

‘Ode to Tomatoes’ is a poem written by Pablo Neruda. This poem is a metaphorical poem that employs tomatoes to reveal the complex relationship between Chile and Spain.

About the Poet:

Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto a.k.a Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was an eminent Chilean poet. He is famed for being the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Famous works of his include Residence on Earth’, ‘Book of Twilight’, and ‘Keeping Quiet’.

Explanation of the Poem:

The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it's time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

The poem begins with how tomatoes were in abundance in summer, filling the streets of Chile so much so that they were overflowing with tomato juice. This alludes to the bloodbath involved during the war between Chile and Spain.

During winter, tomatoes are said to ‘invade’ the kitchen, alluding to how Spain invaded Chile. Tomato thus enters the kitchen in all its ‘benign majesty’, ready to be cooked. Again, the reference to the ‘murder’ of tomatoes refers to the murder involved with the war.

The lines where ‘seeds’ of the tomatoes ‘populates the Salads/of Chile’ can be taken to be sexual in nature where it refers to the subsequent interracial marriages that took place between the two nations. The ‘wed’ding and the ‘union’ mentioned here connote the melting pot method of America. The salad in fact, with its tomatoes, olives, and potatoes refers to the same.

The poem concludes on a joyous note thus, painting the picture of Spain and Chile in a domestic setup, their past differences put behind them. Together, they coexisted wherein the tomato represents their ‘completeness’ without any obstacles such as ‘husk’ or ‘thorns’.

Conclusion:

This is a wonderful poem that captures the progression of what had once been a rivalry between Spain and Chile into something more beautiful to be cherished.