‘Ode to Enchanted Light’

‘Ode to Enchanted Light’ by Pablo Neruda is a three-stanza poem that utilizes

alliteration, word choices, and metaphor to express the vast possibilities that come with
change. Bad and good consequences can surface due to change, but the result of
varying conditions can lead to pleasant circumstances. Regardless of what the reader is
facing, Neruda seems to indicate that they should look for the good things and take
comfort in knowing that while many may not notice the change or stress of others,
people, in general, share the same tendency for change and adapting. Essentially,
change can be beautiful, and it is common enough to unite us in a crystal-clear “glass.”

Ode to Enchanted Light Analysis

First Stanza

Under the trees light

has dropped from the top of the sky,
(…)
drifting down like clean
white sand.

The narrative of ‘Ode to Enchanted Light’ is a simple story of “light” “shining” “from the
top of the sky,” though the first two lines hint that this process is a negative concept.
This idea is particularly of note in the choice of the verb, “dropped.” A verb like
“descends” would have a more poetic connotation, and something like “streamed”
would sound much more positive. As it currently stands, “dropped” is akin to
plummeting or losing something.

This “drop” is a far one since the “light” “has [come] from the top of the sky,” which
furthers this feeling of negativity. In essence, the “light” started so high and “dropped”
to the common world in which the reader lives. Without question, this notion feels like a
loss, as if the “light” has suffered some horrific catastrophe to ruin its situation.
However, once the “light” begins this travel, the narrative colors its journey with words
that depict beauty and wonder, like the “latticework of branches” it mimics and “every
leaf” its “shining” reaches. In fact, even the verb choice for the latter parts of this stanza
shifts from something as plummet-like as “dropped” to something as soft and gentle as
“drifting” to represent its movements.

As it “drift[s],” it does so “like clean white sand” as if it were “green latticework,” which
sounds beautiful, refreshing, and calming. This is not only true because of the word
choices, but also in the sounds of the stanza—such as all the soft “l” sounds that begin
so many words within the stanza. That sound is a striking contrast to the verbs,
“dropped” and “drifting,” which implies that while the fall is real and unstoppable, the
new circumstances arriving because of the fall are not unpleasant.

When applied to life, this holds the theme that even though people endure hardships
and things out of their control, they can still find beauty, wonder, and good places as life
changes around them. Like the “light” that fell all the way from “the top of the sky,”
people, too, can find the beauty of “latticework” and “clean[ness]” in the aftermath of
their “drop[s].”

Second Stanza

A cicada sends
(…)
high into the empty air.

This stanza of ‘Ode to Enchanted Light’ blends the concept of the negativity of falling
from “the top of the sky” and the beauty that surfaces through the “drop” by providing
a setting detail that is both positive and negative. A “song” can be calming, soothing,
and welcoming, particularly when it stretches “high.” Unfortunately, though, this “song”
does lack a bit of grace because it is a “sawing song.”

This alliteration brings the two concepts together in physical and audible ways as they
begin with similar sounds, and by doing does, the juxtaposition is strengthened. There is
nothing smooth or melodious about a “saw” sound, but this is the description that is
used to describe the “song” the “cicada” sings.

What this entails is that while there is beauty found as the “light” “drift[s] down,” the
process is still not what the “light” wanted, which makes the otherwise pleasant
circumstance bittersweet. Basically, the scenario is lovely and filled with “song,” but
there is a rough edge, like the cutting of a “saw,” from having choice taken away and
losing the previous place of being. Since this “song” goes “into the empty air,” it
indicates as well that no one is listening to it, as if the descent is irrelevant to all within
hearing distance.

Not only does this stanza then address the already mentioned idea of good being found
in change, but also that the deep changes within our own selves are often overlooked
by those around us. This is true, according to the stanza, whether the changes are good
or bad since neither the “song” nor its “sawing” quality has drawn attention. People can
change without commentary from others, and those changes can come with good and
bad elements.

Third Stanza

The world is
(…)
with water.

With the vast number of changes that go overlooked, as was noted in the previous
stanza, it is sensible that the narrator claims that “[t]he world is” “overflowing.” There are
so many elements that change and shift—aspects of good and bad intermingling within
them—that so much is constantly happening. Even the element utilized to express this
“overflowing” is an ambivalent concept: “water.” People need “water” to live, but an
overabundance can be catastrophic. This is a perfect parallel to reflect the overall theme
of ‘Ode to Enchanted Light’—that good and bad can be found in varying situations. Just
as “water” can be lethal, change can be inconvenient and “saw[like]” while still granting
beauty and “song” to life.

The choice to showcase this “water” in “a glass” is telling as well since “a glass” can be
transparent or translucent. This reveals that the poem’s theme is an undisturbed look
into the human mindset and condition, as these ideas are so clear that little to nothing
hinders seeing them as they are. As well, placing all of humanity within this “glass”
indicates unity in that everyone deals with change. This similarity of circumstance, as it
happens, could be taken as another beauty of change. We all must endure it, but even if
we bear it quietly into “empty air,” others still understand what we face because
everyone within the “glass” is connected in enduring change.

Overall, Neruda is telling his readers that change is good and bad, but common and
filled with potential. If a person in the midst of change tries, even if the change is a
sudden “drop,” beauty of “song” and “latticework” can be located within the new
situation.

About Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was a poet from Chile who was born in 1904. He penned poetry on a wide
range of topics, particularly the political edge that many of his works could employ. He
passed away in 1973, and some of his later works are noted for expressing feelings in
regard to his worsening health and pending end. During his life, he earned a Nobel
Prize.