Meaning of the Poem In Peace by Amado Nervo
What does the poem En paz by Amado Nervo mean:
"In Peace" is one of the most famous poems by the Mexican writer Amado Nervo, one of the main figures of Latin American modernism. It was published in 1916 in the book Elevation.
It's a poem that celebrates life, that sings its gratitude and recognition of existence. In this sense, it is considered a poem of existential, mystical reflection, since Nervo, in addition to being a famous poet with a love theme, was also a famous poet about life and a certain religious mysticism.
The poem "In peace" is located among the mature works of the author, in which a distancing from modernist rhetoric can be appreciated, of which he was a distinguished cultist, and that is characterized by a simpler and more personal style, very different from his first stage marked by a naive romanticism, and his second stage, for which he is more recognized, marked by the modernism.
Poem "In peace"
Very close to my sunset, I bless you, Life,
because you never gave me even failed hope,
no unfair work, no undeserved penalty;
because I see at the end of my rough path
that I was the architect of my own destiny;
that if I extracted the honeys or the gall of things,
It was because in them I put gall or tasty honeys:
When I planted rose bushes, I always harvested roses.
True, winter will follow my freshness:
But you didn't tell me that May was eternal!
I certainly found the nights of my sorrows long;
but you didn't just promise me good nights;
and instead I had some holy serene ...
I loved, I was loved, the sun caressed my face.
Life, you owe me nothing! Life, we are at peace!
Analysis of the poem
The poem "In peace" is found in the book Elevation, published in 1916. It was written on March 20, 1915, in the last years of the poet's life. For this reason, is considered a maturity poem, sort of perfect epitaph of the poet's life.
In the poem the carmine attitude predominates, which is the lyrical attitude where the poetic voice expresses its feelings, reflections and state of mind, using the first person singular.
The lyrical motif that energizes the poem is gratitude for life. In this sense, it is a poem that celebrates life, where the poetic voice, from a perspective of maturity and serenity, takes stock of its existence. Life is looked back on and valued positively.
The epigraph of the poem, written in Latin, which reads: “Artifex vitae, artifex sui"And whose translation would be" the architect of himself, the architect of his destiny, "is precisely mirrored with another verse of the poem" that I I was the architect of my own destiny ”, which refers to the fact that we are the builders of our own road.
Despite the fact that Amado Nervo is considered one of the most important authors of Latin American modernism, in this poem we can recognize a certain distance from aesthetics modernist, already present in the poet's last works, characterized by a refined and precise language, without so much precious elaboration, oriented towards simplicity in a more tone personal.
Verse type, rhyme and meter
The verses are from major art, that is, more than eight syllables, 13 and 14 in our case. The poem is composed in rhyme.
Below is a table that shows the metric of the poem, with its division into syllables. The sinalefas, which are the fusion of the final vowel of one word with the initial vowel of the next, are highlighted in bold.
| Verses separated into syllables | No. |
|---|---|
| Very close to/ Own/ ca / so /, yo / te / ben / di / go /, Vi / da, | 14 |
| for / that / nun / ca / me / dis / te / nor is/ pe / ran / za / fa / lli / da, | 14 |
| ni / tra / ba / jos / in / jus / tos /, ni / pe /na in/me/re/ci/da; | 14 |
| why / what / see /or to / fi / nal / de / mi / ru / do / ca / mi / no | 13 |
| that I/ i was the/ ar / qui / tec / to / de / mi / own / pio / des / ti / no; | 14 |
| what/ yes ex/ bring / je / the / wed / les / o / gall/ of / the / co / sas, | 13 |
| was / by /what in/ e / llas / pu /be gall/ o / wed / les / sa / bro / sas: | 13 |
| When I planted rose bushes, I always harvested roses. | 14 |
| Close /to/ mis / lo / za / ní / as / going to/ se / guir / el / in / fri / no: | 14 |
| More / you / no / me / said / jis / te / que / ma / yo / was /I know/ter/no! | 14 |
| Ha / llé / sin / du / da / lar / gas / las / no / ches / de / mis / pe / nas; | 14 |
| more / no / me / pro / me / tis / te / tan / só / lo / no / ches / bue / nas; | 14 |
| and in/ cam / bio / you /go to/ gu / nas / san / ta / men / te / se / re / nas ... | 14 |
| A / mé /, I went to/ma/do, the/ sun / a / ca / ri / ció / mi / face. | 13 (12+1) |
| I saw / da /, na / da / me / de / bes /! Saw/da, is/ ta / mos / in / peace! | 14 (13+1) |
Rhetorical figures
Prosopopoeia
Life is treated as an animated being, as a poetic personification; it is spoken to him as to a person: "Very close to my sunset, I bless you, Life."
Apostrophe
The poetic voice addresses Life as an interpellation, which implies an apostrophic attitude: "because you never gave me even failed hope ...".
Metaphor
The metaphor is the relationship between two ideas that is established in poetic language. There are several metaphors in this poem:
- That of sunset as a symbol of the end of life, of the proximity of death: "Very close to my sunset."
- The metaphor of May as spring, as times of splendor and exuberance, of maximum vitality: "But you didn't tell me that May was eternal!"
- Winter as a symbol of a time of recollection, of darkness, of rest, after splendor: "True, winter will follow my freshness."
- "The sun caressed my face", meanwhile, is a metaphor that refers to the fact that he enjoyed moments of happiness, of joy.
Anaphora
Figure consisting of the rhythmic repetition of certain sounds: "neither failed hope, / neither unfair jobs, neither undeserved grief ”.
Pun
Figure that consists of playing with words, repeating and inverting them to produce new meanings: “that if I extracted honey or gall from things, / it was because I put gall or honeys in them tasty ”.
Hyperbaton
It is the alteration of the order that the words generally have in the sentence, like this, instead of writing: "I bless you, Life, very close to my sunset", the author writes: "Very close to my sunset, I bless you, Lifetime".
Epithet
The adjective is placed before the noun: "Rudo camino".
It may interest you 30 modernist poems commented.
About the Author
Amado Nervo is the pseudonym of Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo y Ordaz, born in 1870, in Mexico, and died in 1919, in Uruguay. It was poet, novelist, chronicler and essayist, trades that he exercised alongside journalism and diplomacy. He is considered one of the most important Mexican voices of Spanish-American modernism. He was a corresponding member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua.
Between 1900 and 1902, he was a Paris correspondent for a Mexican newspaper, a stay that he took advantage of to come into contact with poets of the stature of Leopoldo Lugones Y Ruben Dario, which would exert a decisive influence on his literature. As a diplomat, he lived in Spain, Argentina, and Uruguay.
He is the author of novels like The bachiller (1895), and poetry books such as Black pearls (1896), Mystical (1898), The inner gardens (1905), and The immobile beloved (1992, posthumous).
