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What conclusion can be drawn about "Your Laughter"?

A. In “Your Laughter,” Neruda writes in an informal tone because he is speaking to someone he knows well.

B. Neruda uses figurative language to not appeal to the senses.

C. Neruda uses figurative poetic devices to make his images more dull and his ideas more evocative.

D. Neruda uses figurative poetic devices to make his images more boring and his ideas more insignificant.

User Beaver
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2 Answers

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a. in “Your Laughter,” Neruda writes in an informal tone because he is speaking to someone he knows well.
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Answer:

I too believe the best answer to be letter A. In “Your Laughter,” Neruda writes in an informal tone because he is speaking to someone he knows well.

Step-by-step explanation:

In his poem "Your Laughter", Chilean poet Pablo Neruda focuses on the joy that hearing his lover's laughter brings him. To express such happiness, Neruda uses lots of figurative language and imagery, constantly comparing her laughter to things that give life or strength (water and a sword, for instance), and painting a vivid picture of how her laughter makes him happy.

We can, therefore, eliminate options B, C, and D provided in the question. Option B claims the author does not appeal to senses, which is precisely the opposite of what he does. Mostly, Neruda appeals to sight and hearing, since his descriptions are very visual, and his metaphors focus in comparing laughter to elements that can be seen and/or heard (such as a foamy cascade, a flower, a sword). Options C and D claim the poetic devices used make the images dull or boring in order to enhance the poet's ideas. As we can see, the images are made brighter and more vivid, which helps convey his ideas. Thus, the best option is letter A. His language is informal, effortless, despite the several metaphors. He is expressing his feelings easily to someone he knows well.

The full poem is as follows:

Your Laughter

Take bread away from me, if you wish,

take air away, but

do not take from me your laughter.

Do not take away the rose,

the lance flower that you pluck,

the water that suddenly

bursts forth in joy,

the sudden wave

of silver born in you.

My struggle is harsh and I come back

with eyes tired

at times from having seen

the unchanging earth,

but when your laughter enters

it rises to the sky seeking me

and it opens for me all

the doors of life.

My love, in the darkest

hour your laughter

opens, and if suddenly

you see my blood staining

the stones of the street,

laugh, because your laughter

will be for my hands

like a fresh sword.

Next to the sea in the autumn,

your laughter must raise

its foamy cascade,

and in the spring, love,

I want your laughter like

the flower I was waiting for,

the blue flower, the rose

of my echoing country.

Laugh at the night,

at the day, at the moon,

laugh at the twisted

streets of the island,

laugh at this clumsy

boy who loves you,

but when I open

my eyes and close them,

when my steps go,

when my steps return,

deny me bread, air,

light, spring,

but never your laughter

for I would die.

User Decebal
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