“Song for the Mothers of Slain Militiamen”: Commentary

In the poem allocated, Neruda uses contrasting settings and imagery to convey to readers that those that die fighting will be remembered in all aspects by the people they died for.

Contrast in setting is used to relay the way that the militiamen are remembered by their mothers, for whom they died to protect. There are four mentions of “mothers” and each mention seems to address a different perspective with different scenes. After the first mention, the environment that is described is a place that was ravaged with war recently. The militiamen are remembered through the war that they fought, leaving only “their poor demolished bones”. Because of their “upraised fists deny[ing] death”