Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is likely told from Neruda's first-person point of view.
Form and Meter
Free verse.
Metaphors and Similes
The poem uses a metaphor of a traveler who changes his route if his destination forgets him, which signifies that the speaker's love is contingent upon the beloved's feelings.
Alliteration and Assonance
This is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. In the lines "to continue to walk on the sand we walk on," the repeated "o" sounds in "continue," "to," and "on" provide assonance.
Irony
When the speaker says he would leave if forgotten, which contrasts with the deep love and passion usually expected in love poems.
Genre
Love poem
Setting
The poem is likely set in nature.
Tone
Passionate, sincere, and slightly melancholic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The speaker (Neruda/lover) is the protagonist and the potential forgetfulness or indifference of the beloved can be seen as an antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict lies in the speaker's fear of being forgotten by his beloved.
Climax
The line "to continue to flourish, full-flowered" is the poem's climax.
Foreshadowing
The speaker discussing how he would react if the listener were to forget him foreshadows how he will act for the rest of the poem.
Understatement
The calmness of the sand is understated throughout the poem.
Allusions
There are allusions to the idea of everlasting love and the yearning for the beloved to continue to live and flourish even after the speaker's death.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The line "the light and wheat of your beloved hands" is an example of metonymy, with the characteristics of light and wheat representing the beloved's gentleness, warmth, and nourishment.
Personification
"So that everything can learn the reason for my song." Here, "everything" is personified as being capable of learning.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
N/A
