(solved) Analyzing Poems PDF

Running head: ANALYZING POEMS
ANALYZING POEMS
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Introduction
The state of total or nearly total lack of connection between the society and an
individual is termed as social isolation. A person when isolated from his or her community,
he or she is in the state of social isolation. The modern individual is facing problems related
to social isolation where individuals are suffering from aloofness, self-centeredness, lack of
concrete identity (de Jong Gierveld, Van Tilburg & Dykstra, 2016). Thus, the modern
individuals are socially isolated being. The purpose of this essay is to show the similarities
and differences between Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Salt and Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence
centralizing on a theme called social isolation. The thesis statement: The social isolation is
the most common theme of the modernist writers.
The Comparison of the Poems Based on the Themes
Ode to Salt and The Sound of Silence
The Latin American poet Pablo Neruda writes Ode to Salt. In his poem, the poet has
illustrated the story of salt in the context of the vastness of the world, thus the salt is isolated
from its root in the salt mine. The salt is confined in the saltcellar now and before that, it was
in the salt mine. The salt mine is the vast family of the salt and so to speak it is the birthplace
of the salt. However, the salt is taken from the salt mine and used for domestic purpose. This
image is similar to portray an individual’s feelings of isolation. The poet hears the solitude of
the salt and the poet has been shivered by it. The poet sated, “I shivered in those solitudes /
when I heard / the voice of the salt in the desert”. The poet is very respectful towards salt and
expressed the long history and necessity of the salt. He wrote, “Preserver/ of the ancient /
holds of ships”. The salt carries much details of the finite world, which was expressed in the
last line. However, its voice is broken and it sings “a mournful song”, when it is isolated from

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its association. The pain of isolation is expressed in the metaphor of the individual’s pain in
isolation. From another perspective, the poem is the representation of the glorification of the
history of the salt. It portrays the importance of the salt in the history and the author is
inspired by the salt’s history. Paul Simon’s poetry The Sound of Silence expresses the pangs
of isolation in the modern world. The poem has been started with addressing the darkness,
which is the old friend of the poet. The poet wants to talk with the darkness “Within the
Sound of Silence” (Simon, 2016). However, the poet walks alone in some restlessness, which
is the symbol of modernity. The poet might express the crowd by the restlessness. The
isolation has been expressed in the lines, “ People talking without speaking / People hearing
without listening / People writing songs that voices never shared / And no one dared / Disturb
the Sound of Silence” (Simon, 2016). The situation is like that where people’s interaction is
meaningless, weightless and people are unable to communicate with an understanding. The
songs in this world are meaningless where the oppressed voice is not shared and no one in
this world is dared to write this kind of song. The silence sound of isolation is still there.
Along with the representation of social isolation, the Paul Simon’s poem is the representation
of the conflict between material world and the spiritual attraction, which transcends this
material world. The voice in the poem plays a role of visionary who feels and makes caution
about the lack of spirituality among modern people.
The comparison
The theme of social isolation is present in both the poems. Ode to Salt has represented
the factor of social isolation in the metaphor of salt, The Sound of Silence has portrayed it by
showing the modern man’s situation where sound of silence is there, and no one is actually
communicating to the others social being. The poet in his poem Ode to Salt has discussed the
social isolation, though the salt shares long history with human being. The salt sung when it

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was in the mines, however, when it is in the solitude, the poet hears the shivering sound of
the salt as isolation could make an individual sad and gloomy. In comparison to The Sound of
Silence, the poet Paul Simon here has shown the social isolation in a broader way. The poet
has shown the result of the social isolation among the human beings (Eajournals.org, 2017).
The result is people communicates with each other without conveying the meaning, people
hears to each other without understanding the meaning and the whole world is the form of
isolation where true communication has broken.
Analyzing the Poems
Both the poets have represented their views of social isolation in their own ways.
Pablo Neruda has focused on the inanimate object and given it the essence of humanity.
Thus, he has used the poetic tool of personification here. The salt is get personified and the
poet heard the oppressed voice of the salt. The salt here is oppressed, as it is isolated.
However, any isolated being could face a number of challenges as it is torn out from its root.
The salt is isolated from the mines, thus, it is facing problems related to sadness for the
rootedness. The poet has used ode form here, which highlights emotion. The relationship
between the salt and the world has been expressed by the one-word lines, which are
preposition (Wilson, 2014). The words are structured in a way that represents the sprinkling
ways of fall of the salt as if the salt is crying. The Sound of Silence is a lyric of a famous
band called Simon and Garfunkel. It also represents the social isolation in its own way. The
refrain in this poem establishes the silence nature of the sound that does not carry any
meaning. The song carries itself the sound of the silence, which is the result of isolation.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that, as the social isolation is the pervading theme of modernity,
most of the poems or songs carry the thread of this theme with them. The Pablo Neruda’s

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poem Ode to Salt and Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence has been analyzed in the context of
social isolation and in this paper shown the reflection of isolation in the poems.

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References
De Jong Gierveld, J., Van Tilburg, T., & Dykstra, P. (2016). Loneliness and social isolation.
Eajournals.org. (2017). Retrieved 11 October 2017, from http://www.eajournals.org/wp-
content/uploads/Poetic-Vision-of-Pablo-Neruda.pdf
Simon, P. (2016). Lyrics 1964-2016. Simon and Schuster.
Wilson, J. (2014). A companion to Pablo Neruda: evaluating Neruda's poetry (Vol. 259).
Boydell & Brewer Ltd.