Political Affiliation

Neruda started to become politically aware at a fairly young age. After the publication of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, he was appointed to the honorary post of Chilean consul. He was just 20 years old and was travellng to places like Rangoon, Sri Lanka, Batavia, and Indonesia. In the 1930's, he was appointed as consul in Barcelona, Spain, where he met people who were involved in radical politics and the Communist Party. It was during this time that a noted shift in the tone of his poetry could be felt. He was moving away from his more personal writing and began communicating instead his social and political idealism. When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, his focus turned towards mobilizing support for the Spanish Republicans. Neruda returned to Chile in 1937 and immersed himself completely in politics, giving speeches and poetry readings to support Chile's...