Mermaid as a Symbol for Transcendence

 

The Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks is one of my top-favorite poems by Pablo Neruda.

I plan to explore some elements and symbolism that I find compelling but for now, I'll just embed the excellent reading of the poem by Ethan Hawke.

Among the numerous interpretations of this classic poem is the sense that the Mermaid in essence transcends the experiences she has in the bar as she is subjected to the drunks' verbal abuses. When she returns to her own environment and her true nature, she undergoes a kind of cleansing.

This has a metaphysical connotation as a person's true essence is similarly untouchable or immune from any blemish sustained in the domain of material forms.

More thoughts to come.