"Ode to Tomatoes" by Pablo Neruda: Leo Rota

In honor of the start of our poetry unit, I would like to give a review of the first poem I ever learned by heart: “Ode to Tomatoes” by Pablo Neruda. This poem is, as the name suggests, an ode to tomatoes. An ode is a type of poem focused on describing and praising a particular subject. This poem uses personification and metaphors to position the tomato as a sort of hero in the kitchens of Chile. Phrases like “invades”, “benign majesty”, “murder”, and “hoists its flag” bring to my mind thoughts of a kingdom and its ruler. I have to say that if this is what Pablo Neruda was going for then I could not agree more. The tomato really is such a beautiful fruit/vegetable that has a powerful flavor that can add to almost any dish. Specifically, the final 7 lines of this poem I believe really encapsulate the perfection of the tomato:

no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

 

Pablo Neruda is better known for his love poems and political poems but poems of his like this one that shed light on the importance of commonly used condiments like tomatoes, onions, and salt are my favorites of his. While ingredients like these are more often thought of as not being the central part of most dishes, these poems show how the ingredients like tomatoes that add so much to so many dishes are really more important than more flashy ingredients. Like a ruler of the food kingdom, the tomato makes every dish better and becomes the “star of earth”