The Strike by Pablo Neruda (1933)
The poem is a powerful expression of the poet's outrage and grief over the brutal suppression of a workers' strike in Chile. It describes the event from multiple perspectives, including that of the striking workers, the police, and the government officials who ordered the violence. The poem conveys the sense of injustice, tragedy, and loss suffered by the working class.
By Pablo Neruda · First published 1933 · Genre: Poetry, Social Commentary, Existentialism · 206 words
First lines
The idle factory came to seem strange.
A silence in the plant, a distance between machine and man, as if a thread had been cut between two planets, an absence of human hands that use up time making things, and the naked rooms without work and without noise.
When man deserted the lairs of the turbine, when he tore off the arms of the fire, so that the inner organs of the furnace died, and pulled out the eyes of the wheel, so that the dizzy light paused in its invisible circle, the eyes of the great energies, of the pure circles of force, of the stupendous power, what remained was a heap of pointless pieces of steel, and in the shops without men a widowed air and the lonesome odor of oil.
What this Textopian page supports
The Strike is listed on Textopian as a poem by Pablo Neruda, dated 1933 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Pablo Neruda
- Date: 1933 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Social Commentary, Existentialism, Modernism, Political Literature
- Length: 206 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Strike by Pablo Neruda
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Genres
- Poetry — The work employs lyrical language and imagery characteristic of poetry, focusing on emotional and philosophical themes.
- Social Commentary — The text critiques industrialization and its impact on humanity, reflecting on labor and alienation.
- Existentialism — The themes explore the meaning of existence and the human condition in the face of mechanization.
- Modernism — The style reflects modernist concerns with fragmentation and the disconnection between man and machine.
Tags
Poetry · Socialism · Politics · Labor rights · Protest · Revolution · Chilean literature · 20th century · Latin American literature · Working class · Exploitation · Capitalism
More by Pablo Neruda
- Body of a Woman (1959)
- The Light Wraps You (1954)
- Ah Vastness of Pines (1975)
- The Morning Is Full (1954)
- So That You Will Hear Me (1976)
- I Remember You As You Were (1952)
- Leaning Into The Afternoons Leaning into the afternoons I cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes (1954)
- White Bee (1974)
- All works by Pablo Neruda