Critical appreciation and Line By Line Analysis of You Start Dying Slowly by -Pablo Neruda || Maharashtra Board Class 10 English ||

About the Poet

Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto was named Pablo Neruda, born on 12 July 1904, in Parral. He was a poet, diplomat, and politician. He was also an atheist. He started writing when he was 13 years old in a variety of styles. He used to write love poems, autobiography, historical epic, etc. In the winter of 1914, he composed his first poems.

Intending to become a teacher, Neruda moved to Santiago to study French at the Universidad de Chile. All his time, he devoted himself to writing poems. He met and impressed the most critical publisher in Chile, Don Carlos George Nascimento. Neruda’s work, the collection Tentativa del hombre infinito, and the novel El habitante y su esperanza got published in 1926.

For the very first time, he was politicized intensely, as Spain became engulfed in the civil war. Neruda was found to be an ardent Communist. He was appointed special Consul for Spanish emigrants in Paris,   following the election of Pedro Aguirre Cerda as President of Chile in 1938. His diplomatic post was being the Consul General in Mexico City. He later regretted his fondness for the Soviet Union. Neruda was also elected as a Communist Senator.

Neruda published his epic poem Canto General, a Whitmanesque. He thoroughly enjoyed worldwide fame as a poet. Later his books were being translated into virtually all the major languages of the world. Neruda was also nominated as a candidate for the Chilean presidency.

In 1917, Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

About the Poem

The poet in the poem talks about the beauty and the importance of life. He advises the readers to live a better, more satisfying life.  He shows the readers how to live their life beautifully, experiencing new things. It encourages readers on how to chase their dreams. If we are afraid and do not pursue our thoughts, our reproductions can become meaningless, and it is as good as dying slowly.

We get attracted to loneliness and negativity.

The poet shows the difference between living and existing. He says that life becomes meaningful when we are accepting new challenges and new things. If we lose our self-esteem and lead a boring life, we will start dying, not from outside but surely from inside.

Structure of the Poem

The poem

“You start dying slowly
if you do not travel,
if you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.
You start dying slowly
When you kill your self-esteem;
When you do not let others help you.
You start dying slowly.
If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking every day on the same paths.
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colors
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.
You start dying slowly
If you avoid feeling the passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heartbeat fast.
You start dying slowly.
If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,
If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,
If you do not go after a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice.”

The poem has got no particular rhyming scheme, and it is a free-verse rhyme scheme. There is the use of metaphors. It shows the readers how to live their life gracefully, experiencing new things. It advises readers on how to chase their dreams.

Analysis Of The Poem

“You start dying slowly
if you do not travel,
if you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.
You start dying slowly.

The poet says to travel to different places and gain new experiences. He says so because, according to him, life is so small, and it is difficult to get all experiences in life so one should fully live his or her life. He also advises the reader to keep reading in life to experience the unseen. He also warns against listening to the sounds or the music of life, like the noise, sounds, the moves of life, nature, etc. The poet advices to listen to our inner self, what our heart desires. He says not to get attracted to silence or negativity. The one who can read the sound of silence can conquer everything in life. We won’t be encouraged until and unless we appreciate ourselves for our work. If we don’t do all this, then one starts getting attracted to negativity.

When you kill your self-esteem;
When you do not let others help you.
You start dying slowly.

He says all are the same; no one is inferior or superiors. He says one should never lose self-esteem, how can one expect respect from others when we don’t have any self-respect. The more we prefer silence, keep ourselves away from us, the more we stop them from helping us. We choose negativity and loneliness over anything else. We throw hope away from our life and start dying slowly.

If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking every day on the same paths.
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colors
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.
You start dying slowly.

We should recognize our bad habits and throw them away as soon as possible. We shouldn’t allow our bad habits to overpower us. Whereas on the other side it is challenging to acquire good habits, but once we are successful in getting good habits, it helps us in our better future. He says to look for new things related to life or carrier, keeping aside all the negative stuff. We should play with the colors of life, colors of different emotions like joys and sorrows, loyalty and disloyalty, etc. We should acquire ourselves, talk to every single one, or else we will be responsible for our monotonous life.

If you avoid to feel the passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heartbeat fast.
You start dying slowly.

Everyone dreams of achieving their goal, and ones they are successful in achieving the goal they know, how much efforts are needed to make it. That very moment is worth remembering. It feels so good to be successful.

We should be living our life and do our best. Once we start residing without passion for doing great things, we start dying mentally.

If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,

If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,
If you do not go after a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice.”

The poet says that one must keep doing things they like and keep gaining experience; life will be boring and monotonous. We must be cautious while choosing our job, and we should go for the one we are comfortable with. Sometimes we go for the one we are meant to do, and we get disappointed because we don’t want to go out of our comfort zone; we don’t like taking risks. We don’t challenge our talent; we don’t chase a dream. All this becomes a burden, and it kills one from inside slowly.

Literary Devices Used

•Anaphora:- it is the literary device called repetition of sentence, word, and phrase. Such as in this poem writer has repeated the words and sentences.

• “you start dying slowly,” “If you do not.”

•Antimere:  it is a literary device used in this poem, it stated that when a part of speech played a role as another word class. 

–  You start dying slowly.

• Repetition:- the action of repeating something that has already been said or written.

• Like, “you start dying slowly,” “if you do not.”

•Aposiopesis: It is a literary device used in the poem that means when the writer is unable to continue the speech. 

• You start dying slowly.

If you become a slave of your habits,

Walking every day on the same paths.

If you do not change your routine,

If you do not wear different colors

Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

The Theme of The Poem

The theme of the poem “You Start Dying Slowly” teaches us how to lead our lives. The verse says that we should follow our passion for happily living and experiencing life. The poet also advises the reader to keep reading in life to experience the unseen. He also warns against listening to the sounds of life or inner-self. The poet says to travel to different places and gain new experiences.

The poet says to do things that we love to do, or we are comfortable with. The poet says that one must keep doing something they like and keep gaining experience; life will be boring and monotonous.

If we are afraid and do not chase your dreams, our lives can become meaningless and are as good as dying slowly.