Pablo Neruda remains one of the most significant poetic voices of the twentieth century, whose works seamlessly integrate love, politics, nature, memory, and human resistance. This article explores the aesthetic and ideological depth of Neruda’s poetry and traces the evolution of his poetic consciousness from intimate romantic lyricism to universal humanitarian commitment. Through a critical lens, the study examines how Neruda transforms personal emotions into collective expressions of struggle and hope, creating a poetic vision where the boundaries of self, society, and nature dissolve into a unified sensibility. The paper also analyzes the political core of Neruda’s work, particularly highlighting anti-imperialist sentiments and the poet’s solidarity with marginalized and oppressed communities. Using Marxist and postcolonial frameworks, the article interprets Neruda’s critique of exploitation, his celebration of human resilience, and his commitment to historical memory. His odes to ordinary objects, which elevate everyday life into metaphysical beauty, are also explored as part of his larger aesthetic philosophy. A significant portion of the study focuses on Neruda’s influence on Urdu literature. His translations played a major role in shaping the progressive movement in Urdu poetry, particularly resonating with poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi, and Habib Jalib. The thematic alignment between Neruda’s political romanticism and Urdu’s tradition of resistance poetry forms a unique intercultural dialogue. However, the paper also identifies gaps, inconsistencies, and interpretative reductions in Urdu criticism of Neruda, offering new avenues for further research. Overall, this article argues that Neruda's poetry continues to inspire global literary discourse by demonstrating that poetry can be simultaneously intimate and revolutionary, tender and defiant, personal and universally resonant.
Keywords: Pablo Neruda; Latin American Poetry; Urdu Literary Criticism; Political Resistance; Poetic Aesthetics; Marxist Criticism; Postcolonial Reading; Comparative Literature
