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“The artichoke
of delicate heart
erect
in its battle-dress,
builds
its minimal cupola;
keeps
stark
in its scallop of
scales.
Around it,
demoniac vegetables
bristle
their thicknesses,
devise
tendrils and belfries,
the bulb's agitations;
while under the subsoil
the carrot
sleeps
sound in its
rusty mustaches.
Runner and filaments
bleach in the vineyards,
whereon rise the vines.
The
sedulous cabbage
arranges its petticoats;
oregano
sweetens a world;
and the artichoke
dulcetly there in a
gardenplot,
armed for a skirmish,
goes proud
in its pomegranate
burnishes.
Till, on a day,
each by the
other,
the artichoke moves
to its dream
of a market place
in the big willow
hoppers:
a battle formation.
Most warlike
of defilades-
with men
in the market stalls,
white shirts
in the soup-greens,
artichoke
field marshals,
close-order conclaves,
commands, detonations,
and voices,
a crashing of crate staves. “
_ Ode to an Artichoke (Pablo Neruda, from Elemental Odes)
To understand the mocking nature of this poem fragment, you first have to
understand the nature of the Spanish Ode and a little about Pablo Neruda’s life.
Neruda, after suffering many hardships in his life, turned to the written
word once again for comfort during the later stages of his life. During this time he wrote a series of poems entitled Odas
Elementales in which he took a more embellished look at the simpler things in life. He took the Spanish Ode, originally intended
to honor the lives of important figures, and used it into convey his message of simplicity and appreciation. He took common
items and some of his close friends and enemies, and stressed their importance with magnificent use of hyperbole, figurative
language, and personification.
In this poem, Neruda takes the common artichoke and transforms it into
a soldier ready for battle. Although the artichoke has, in real life, a ‘tender heart’, (the core of the vegetable
is rather tender) it is in no way a live or “delicate” heart, let alone a warrior’s heart.
Throughout the passage, with words like: “battle dress”, “scallop”,
“battle foundation”, “warlike”, and “artichoke field marshals”, “close-order conclaves”,
“commands”, “detonations, and voices”, Neruda uses the artichoke’s outer leaves, that serve
to protect the inner core of the vegetable, to emphasize the ‘warrior’ in the artichoke.
Next time you encounter an artichoke, you wont help but notice its soldier
qualities. You will find yourself imagining the story of the Great Warrior who lost the battle due to a romantic struggle
with….
Burlesque, imitation, ridicule, and satire.
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