Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks - Poem by Pablo Neruda

I read this text at my Graduation Level

 Original Poem by Pablo Neruda

All those men were there inside,
when she came in totally naked.
They had been drinking: they began to spit.
Newly come from the river, she knew nothing.
She was a mermaid who had lost her way.
The insults flowed down her gleaming flesh.
Obscenities drowned her golden breasts.
Not knowing tears, she did not weep tears.
Not knowing clothes, she did not have clothes.
They blackened her with burnt corks and cigarette stubs,
and rolled around laughing on the tavern floor.
She did not speak because she had no speech.
Her eyes were the color of distant love,
her twin arms were made of white topaz.
Her lips moved, silent, in a coral light,
and suddenly she went out by that door.
Entering the river she was cleaned,
shining like a white stone in the rain,
and without looking back she swam again
swam towards emptiness, swam towards death. 

‘The Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks’ is the third poem by Pablo Neruda. The poet contrasts the mermaid and the drunks, the imagination and reality, beauty and ugliness. The ‘fable’ in the title points to this connection, the division in between, that the reader is supposed to live in. The mermaid is of the earth and river, connected to nature, while the drunks are her opposite.  She is woman, they men.

 Mermaid is a mythical creature of the river, half woman and half fish.

The first few lines already establish the direction of the poem and like a vise; it gradually grips you until you find yourself struggling away towards the end. This poem, in a few lines of beautiful prose, was able to capture a strong message to the reader.

Innocence is such a beautiful thing. This poem is all about innocence and how brutal man can be in stealing it away. At the one level of interpretation, it is all about an innocent mermaid who left her home and found herself in a completely different place, abused by drunken men, and forced to return to her world, damaged. Innocent and uncomprehending of the behavior of the drunks, “she understood nothing.  She simply seems to have lost her way and the vulgar taunts and obscene comments don’t affect her because she does not understand them.” Some would interpret it as man's destruction of nature, going as far as developing a imagery of rape, there were explicit references to spitting on the mermaid, obscenities thrown and taunting, and sadly, physical abuse: 

"They blackened her with burnt lids and cigarette remains, and rolled around laughing on the bar floor."

The mermaid's reaction was priceless. Without fanfare or a whimper, she left. Was this an attempt from Neruda to paint an image of an abused woman who has submitted to her fate? By returning to the river, she was "cleansed" and eventually, "swam towards emptiness and death". It was clear that despite this, going back was the best decision for her and home was a far better place to be in.

This poem may be a story but the message is far more thoughtful than it looks. 

Indeed, there is dignity in silence, beauty in simplicity.