Presentation on Nicanor Parra's book Poems and Anti-poems

1. Presentation by Kalista Wales, Pierce College Puyallup,
Washington
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2. Poems and
Antipoems by
Nicanor Parra

3. Historical Context
 The poems and anti-poems covered in the book are from the years 1930-1967.
 A lot of poems revolve around the working class citizens who are treated unjustly. This could be due to that during the prior time period,
the Nitrate mining industry dominated the Chilean economy and became a very negative part of their history.
 Nitrate mining, specifically Sodium Nitrate, are the main nitrates mined. There are other materials that are mined, such as copper, silver,
and gold. Workers flocked to these mines but gained little, mostly the big business owners getting profit from these mines.
 A lot of the big business owners of mines are American owned, or American government owned.
 The lower class, or working class, were treated as lower human beings than the upper-class. The upper-class consisted of people typically
descended from Spanish colonists or other European people.
 The lower class consisted of a mix of races typically involving the indigenous people. Typically people of Spanish and Indigenous descent.
They were referred to as mestizos. These people were often referred to as “peasants.”
 Many poems refer to the Catholic religion, the most prevalent religion in Chile. Though Catholicism was very important to the identity of
Chilean people, mainly the people descending from the Spanish colonists, certain churches under the religion were found to be corrupt
through exploitation and manipulation of people. Into modern day Chile, the Roman Catholic Church had great influence on political
parties, laws, and anything government related.

4. Political Context
 After the Nitrate businesses were no longer as
prosperous in the 1930s, it left many lower class
citizens unemployed.
 This led to mass migrations to cities. This lead to the
construction of “shantytowns” since there was not
enough room within the cities.
 There were also restrictions put onto labor unions.
 These restrictions led to protests and working class
people turning to political parties, and rebellion.
 They protested for better working conditions and
education, but none of these reforms were enough.
 Some political leaders addressed the issues of the
working class, however, most government leaders
were of the upper class and therefore cared little
about the lower class people and their struggles.
 Most protests were peaceful gatherings of people.
However, some protests were armed. The right
painted these protests in a dark light, and violent
police force was used against them.
 The country was completely divided between left
winged people, typically the working or lower class
people, and the right winged people, typically the
richer upper class people.

5. Political Context
 Chile was able to main an electoral democracy from 1932-1973, the book Poems and Anti-poems addressing topics between the
1930-1960. It maintained a multiparty system that come compared to western European countries.
 In 1932 democracy was restored at the election of Arturo Allesandri in 1932, and this boosted the Chilean economy since the rich
were not as entitled or in as much power. He was considered a political centrist, but while in office was pressured by powerful right
wing leaders within the government to enact their policies.
 One of these policies he was pressured to protect was the 1931 labor code that restricted the rights of labor workers in Chile and
allowed malpractices in certain industries.
 Most of the Chilean political parties denounced Allesandri for his lack of attention to the working people and for not addressing
economic nationalism.
 After the year 1938, Arturo Allesandri was replaced when Pedro Aguirre Cerda who held the presidency until 1941 and was of the
Radical Party.

6. Political Context
 Aguirre Cerda pursued state capitalism in his presidency.
 He did not focus on advancing the working class but instead
wanted to focus on industrial improvement or advancement. This
did not sit well with many of the working class people.
 Aguirre Cerda died in 1941 due to illness, which ended his
presidency.
 Juan Antonia Rio took over the presidency after, his term lasting
from 1942-1946.
 Rios decreed Chile an neutral state during World War II and
maintained this for the war’s duration. Though, he did admit he
sympathized the Allied powers.
 Rios wished to expand the Chilean economy by copying and
trading with foreign powers to the north, such as America. This
benefitted upper class tradesmen and business men, but did little
for the working class. Many Chileans were angry that they were
trading away a majority of their resources to other countries rather
then using them for their own benefit.
 After Juan Antonio Rio’s health declined, in 1946 the presidency
was assumed by Gabriel Gonzalez Videla until 1952.
 Videla was originally considered apart of the Communist party, but
once he assumed the presidency he banished his Communist
partners from the cabinet and technically banned the Communist
party under the 1948 Law for the Defense of Democracy.
 He also severed bonds with the Soviet Union, and like prior
presidents, worked to build a better relationship with the United
States of America. The purpose of this was to improve exports and
trade to America, which took away Chilean resources from the
people and sent that materials to America.
 From the year 1952-1958 Ibanez was elected back to office as a
right wing believer.
 In the years 1958-1964 the congress admitted right winged Jorge
Alessandri.
 Alessandri did little to improve Chile’s struggling economy. Foreign
debt grew under his presidency which caused great amounts of
protest among the working class people.
 Alessandri also had close ties to Augusto Pinochet, this military
general being known for committing the military coup against
Salvador Allende.

7. Cultural Context
 Nicanor Parra was inspired by many Chilean
intellectuals that he worked with or studied under,
that will be discussed in Nicanor Parra’s background
and personal history.
 Besides Nicanor Parra, there were many famous
Chilean poets between 1910-1960 that influenced
the country of Chile, and Nicanor Parra himself.
 Gabriela Mistral and Vincente Huidobro were some
of the most influential poets that discussed many
issues within Chilean society, such as unfair labor
laws in Chile.
 In the 1950’s, Nueva Cancion which was a form of
music was created. This music allowed Chileans to
discover their roots and protest, and used the music
to speak out against the government. Nicanor
Parra’s sister, Violeta Parra, was a Chilean composer
who was very influential in the Nueva Cancion
movement.

8. Nicanor Parra Background and History
• Nicanor Parra was born in Chillian, Chile, in 1914.
• Nicanor Parra was educated earlier then the average child in Chile.
• He studied poetry and science while in school.
• While in his last year of high school at Internado Barros Arana, he met many
intellectual people who influenced his poetry.
• Examples of these intellectuals are Jorge Millas and Carlos Pedraza.
• He publishes his first song and poetry book titled Cancionero Sin Hombre in 1937
(Gale Contextual 1200).

9. Nicanor Parra Background and History
 Nicanor Parra was one of the first poets credited with creating anti-poetry.
 Anti-poetry is a form of poetry that has no defined structure or pattern, some people
referring to it as the opposite of poetry because of this (Gale Contextual 1200).
 In 1945 Parra is employed by the University of Chile as a teacher, then in 1948 he was
appointed Director of Engineering there.
 He continues to write poems and anti-poems through the course of his life, and specifically
his poems become more pessimistic around the 1960’s.
 He addresses many political issues through his poems, anti-poems, and writings. One of the
main topics he addressed was environmental, religious, and struggles of the working class.
 Nicanor Parra died January 23rd, 2018.

10. Poem: Disorder in
Heaven
What is the subject of the poem? The subject of
the poem is Saint Peter and the priest who is
ordering Saint Peter to let him through the gates
of heaven. It is specifically stated, “’If you don’t let
me in, I’ll cut the chrysanthemums’”(Parra 5). It
can be seen that the priest, who is the subject
along with Saint Peter, is putting authority over
this religious figure and threatening that if he is
not let into heaven he will commit harm to the
flowers surrounding the gates of heaven.
Who is the speaker?
The speaker within the poem is an omniscient
narrator or story teller, who is telling the reader
the story of this priest who has discovered how to
reach the gates of heaven. This priest then has a
confrontation with Saint Peter, who is standing
and guarding the gates of heaven.
What is the speaker’s attitude?
The speaker or narrator of the poem does not
really comment on the situation that is occurring
in the poem, all of the words stated by the
narrator being very unemotional and indifferent.
However, a character that does most of the
speaking and is fueled by emotion is Saint Peter.
Saint Peter is very taken aback by the rudeness of
the priest trying to enter heaven, and expresses
his rage through aggressive statements and
words. It is mentioned in the text, “’Selling false
medals and cemetery crosses while the rest
nibbled at pitiful dry bread’”(Parra 21). This
highlights that Saint Martin’s diction choices were
fueled by discontentment and anger, this being
caused by the priests threats and disrespect to
him and heaven.

11. What type of imagery is used within the
poem? The imagery within the poem was for
the majority of the time very literal, because
Saint Martin was using imagery to describe
sins that the priest actually committed,
therefore he was referencing actual events.
Though he used metaphors that are not
necessarily literal, when it is said, “you stuffed
your belly with meat and fresh eggs” (Parra
25). This shows that Saint Martin, who is
speaking is, is portraying images with
metaphors and various forms of imagery, but
in the end he is describing for the most part
actions the priest actually took. This makes the
imagery more literal rather then figurative.
What metaphors and symbols are used? There are
many different metaphors and symbols used within
the poem to convey the overall meaning of the
poem. One of the first metaphors used is, “Get out
of my sight, horse of bad omen”(Parra 12). There is
a metaphor and symbol within this statement,
metaphorically referring to the priest as a horse
carrying bad omen. Symbolically, horses represent
freedom with little restraint. This means that the
priest is able to bring bad omens at their own free
will with nothing restricting them. Another
metaphor and symbol was seen in, “the spider of
lewdness multiplied in your body”(Parra 24). The
metaphor is seen within the poem because there
are no literal spiders multiplying in the priest, and
the symbol within the quote is the spider. Spiders
are symbolic of power and mystery, symbolically
meaning that the priest’s actions are fueled by his
desire for power that he leaves unknown to the
public.

12. What is the rhythm of the poem? In this poem there seems to be no definitive
rhythm, since the length of phrases and stanzas within the poem vary through out.
There are also sudden periods or commas that halt the rhythmic aspects of the poem.
However, the poem still manages to sound lyrical with the use of changing rhythms.
An example of this is, “the saint answered him with a voice like thunder”(Parra 7). This
quote shows one of the sentences that halts the rhythm of the poem with it’s
lengthiness of it sentences changing sporadically. This phrase is much longer in
comparison to the stanzas prior, showing how this poem has an irregular rhythm to it.
Is there a sense of movement? Much like the rhythm, there is movement easily seen within the poem, but this
movement is no consistently the same. There are several punctuation marks used in the poem to slow down the
reader when analyzing the text. Examples of these are, “…voice like thunder:”(Parra 7), “reached the gates of
heaven”(Parra 2), and “touched the bronze knocker”(Parra3). Utilizing commas and colons causes the reader to
take more time to read those sentences, or to pause after the sentence is read. This process causes the
movement in these sections of the poem to be slow in movement. In contrast to this, any of the sentences or
stanzas that contain no punctuation are read faster since there is nothing holding the reader back from rushing
through the sentences. This explains that the movement in the poem Disorder in Heaven by Nicanor Parra is
prevalent, yet everchanging.

13. Interpretation of Disorder in Heaven
Looking at the historical context prior to this poem, religion is something that is very important to Chilean culture. Specifically, Catholicism is the dominant religion
within Chile. Because religion became so prominent at the time, priests practicing Catholicism held power not only in the church but in the Chilean society in general.
Nicanor Parra was very critical of priests in this sense, and showed this through his poem “Disorder in Heaven”. Through this poem he also criticizes corruption in the
Catholic Church in the past as well. The claim or theme that Parra is capturing within this poem is that being a religious priest in Chile had became less about a
relationship with god but more about the status and money that comes with working as a priest. When it is stated, “you can’t buy Jesus with candles or money”(Parra
10). This quote is reference to how in the Catholic religion, though this was hundreds of years ago in the 16th century, priests would preach about indulgences. These
indulgences must be bought by the people attending the church, and if they did not they would be condemned to hell. However, this was just a ploy for the priests to
get more money for themselves and the church. The priests had become power driven, and were using the status as a preacher of god to manipulate the people to
their benefit, this being criticized and shown within the poem. The quote also shows that in modern day Chile, church is still divided greatly by social class based on
welfare. Those with a larger amount of money attend more elite churches, with preachers and priests of the same social class. Parra is capturing the corruption within
that aspect of the church within the quote, since priests should want to teach to all people and treat all people equally as servants of god. Another quote, “On the
fears of the sick selling false medals and cemetery crosses while the rest nibbled a pitiful dry bread”(Parra 20). Parra highlights in this statement that corrupt priests in
Chile were using god to instill fear in people, their teachings putting pressure on the people obey the priests sayings in everyday life. They were, and some still are,
using god to intimidate the people so that the people will see them in a higher status. Mentioning that the priests lived in a higher form of life, rather than the class
they were preaching to, shows their selfishness. That they were not sacrificing anything to help these people, as god encourages them to within the bible, shows how
they were not abiding by the rules of preaching set by the bible and were focusing on their own needs rather then the good of the people. In my interpretation of this
poem, I see that Nicanor Parra is using the poem “Disorder in Heaven” to capture how religion in Chile is not built around a relationship with god, but rather just a
symbol of wealth and status.

14. Poem: Self-
Portrait
What is the subject of the poem? The subject of
the poem is the work, specifically teaching, and
it’s affect on the narrator, or Nicanor Parra. The
strain of the work is the main topic discussed in
the poem, one statement, “sometimes from
working too long I see strange shapes in the air, I
hear crazy footsteps”(Parra 23). This quote shows
that the subject, the man’s work, is driving him to
a point of madness.
Who is the speaker?
The speaker within the poem seems to be Nicanor Parra
himself, though it does not explicitly say that it is Nicanor
Parra. This can be inferred because the narrator describes
himself as a teacher saying, “I have ruined my eyes teaching
classes”(Parra 11). Going off historical context, Parra was an
engineering professor at the University of Chile for a
majority of his life, and he discussed the importance of
teaching outside of school as well. Since the narrator is a
teacher that is very dedicated to his work, it can be assumed
that the teacher is Parra.
What is the speaker’s attitude?
The speaker seems to be experiencing many different
emotions, such as frustration, rage, solemnness, and general
madness. Having the reader experience all these emotions
that the narrator is describing captures the overall insanity
and madness the narrator is driven to by his work. It shows,
“what do you think of my clobbered face? Doesn’t it make
you sick to look at me? And what do you think of these
black shoes”(Parra 7). These repeated questions, that seem
to be charged with bitterness and sadness, capture the
speaker’s insecurity of himself. Saying so many questions so
rapid, these question conveying images of disarray, shows
the poem and the narrator’s overall madness.

15. Is the imagery literal or figurative? The
imagery used within this poem, for the most
part is literal. The speaker in the poem is
describing literal situations with the imagery
used. Most of the imagery is visual imagery of
what the speaker is seeing before his very
eyes, or visual imagery describing himself. A
pattern seen within these images is that
everything seems to be strained or in disarray.
In the text states, “observe these hands and
these cheeks white as death, these few hairs I
have”(Parra 28). As it can be seen within this
quote, the visual imagery is depicting the
literal image of what the narrator actually
looks like as a result of his strenuous work.
What are the metaphors and symbols within the
poem? For a majority of the poem, mostly visual
imagery is used in regards to figurative language.
However, there are still several metaphors within
the poem that are used to capture the overall
meaning behind the poem. One of the most
prominent metaphors is, “why we were born as
man to die like animals”(Parra 21). This metaphor is
capturing how people are no longer people in the
work force, but rather they are pushed to work to
their limit to be sufficient to the needs of the
organization they are working for. Or they have to
work as if they are animals just to meet their
monetary needs for survival. Another metaphor is,
“and what do you think of these black shoes that
grow old without pain or glory”(Parra 10). This
metaphor represents how the people of the
working class are aged early due to the long hours
and strain they have to go through to complete
their work.

16. What is the rhythm in the poem? Following the pattern of Nicanor’s poems and anti-poems,
the rhythm of this poem is not constant and seems to be changing. None of the sentences
are the same length, and they very in general structure as well. There is no rhyme scheme that
adds to the rhythm, this poem sounding more like a story rather than a poem. It is stated,
“and everything. For what! To earn unpardonable bread?”(Parra 17). Within this quote it can
be seen that the sentences have various lengths and punctuation points that make the poem
or irregular, rather then being structured poem.
Is there movement within the poem? There is continuous movement seen within the poem, since the numerous
questions the narrator asks and lack of punctuation causes the poem to read in a rapid style. The previously stated quote
regarding rhythm portrays the quick, short statements and questions used within the poem that cause it to be read at a
faster speed. Since there are less words within the sentences, the reader goes through them faster then other works of
literature. Short, sharp statements like, “I hear crazy footraces”(Parra 25). This quote highlights how Parra’s quick, short
remarks in this poem cause it to move faster.

17. Interpretation of Self-Portrait
The Poem Self-Portrait by Nicanor Parra can be interrupted in many different ways, however, one of the more prominent
interpretations is that this poem shows how the working class people of Chile are forced to work to the point of insanity, to reach
their monetary requirements to live. Looking at the historical context behind the poem, a majority of people in Brazil were in the
more poor, working class of Chile. Most political power, and power over land, belonged to upper class Chileans. People in the
countryside were forced to migrate to more populated cities to find work, similar to what was happening in Brazil at the time. To
simply survive, these working class people had to endure extended hours of strenuous work to earn money to provide for
themselves and their families. Parra captures this within his poem, describing how the long days of work that he had to put in to
make ends meet caused him to age faster and to live in physical pain. It is stated, “to earn unpardonable bread hard as the face of
the storekeeper with the smell and taste of blood”(Parra 18). This highlights how the working class citizens of Chile worked
constantly in poor conditions, but still barely earned enough money to sustain themselves or to give themselves pleasure of any
kind. That the bread tastes of blood in Parra’s statement represents how the blood of another working class citizen is infused with
this bread. Another working class citizen had to work long, hard hours to prepare this bread and make it, yet still it ends up stale.
Parra is using this metaphor to show how even though the people work so hard, their lives are still dull and uneventful, and cause
them excessive physical and mental strain. Within the poem, Parra also discusses all of his dreams prior to the work he was stuck
in, how he believed he would have a very prosperous job and get to enjoy life. This shows how all the working class people dream
of getting to live like the upper class people, and enjoy luxuries like jewelry, fancy food, and nice clothes. In this he is capturing
how unfair it is to the working class people that they will never get these amenities because the upper class people are hogging
all the land and kicking people of their land, forcing them to move to cities to work these dead end jobs. It is made evident in
Nicanor Parra’s poem Self-Portrait that working class people of Chile are forced to work to the point of insanity, to reach their
monetary requirements to live.

18. Anti-poem:
Lonelyhearts
What is the subject of the poem? The subject of
this poem is women, specifically how Chilean
women are viewed by Chilean men in society.
What the narrator focuses on is how women are
objectified and viewed as their only purpose
being to please men sexually. It is stated, “gifted
in personal services”(Parra 2). This statement
shows that the narrator is speaking about how
Chilean men view that women are to give them
this “personal service” which is a metaphorical
statement regarding intercourse.
Who is the speaker?
The speaker within this anti-poem seems to
be an omniscient narrator, that is possibly
Nicanor Parra himself observing the Chilean
society and discussing it through the anti-
poem. He specifically is talking about how
women are perceived in society. Specifically,
he discusses how women are only viewed for
sexual pleasures, as if they are objects.
What is the speaker’s tone?
The speaker sounds very bitter about the
subject, being very passive aggressive in the
specific diction. It is seen in the breaks and
organization of the poem. That the words
“free”(Parra 5) followed by “without
obligation” are set aside from the rest of the
poem shows how the speaker wants the
reader to pay attention to these words, these
words subliminally insulting the male Chilean
society for only desiring intercourse from
women who are willing to be submissive to
men with no obligation.

19. Is the imagery literal or
figurative? The imagery within
the anti-poem is very literal,
though metaphors are used
frequently through softer terms
meaning more vulgar acts.
Within the text it states, “is
available to care for ladies at
night”(Parra 3). The imagery used
within this phrase is very simple
and seems literal. However there
is a deeper, metaphorical
meaning behind this statement.
The phrase is covertly alluding to
sexual interaction through the
statement “care for”, since this
statement is verbally ironic.
Given the context of the rest of
the poem, this metaphor can be
seen.
Are there metaphors and symbols used?
There are several metaphorical statements
made within the text, there not being
many to pull from since the antipoem is
short. Parra states, “Free without
obligation completely responsible”(6). This
metaphorically represents that the men
being spoken of in the antipoem want
their women to take all the responsibility
for the consequences of their sexual
encounters, and to not obligate them to
anything. This lack of obligation may
represent that the men are dishonorable if
they are to get with these women,
specifically that they are being unfaithful
to their spouses. This maybe why the men
are said not to want the women to hold
them responsible for anything.

20. What is the rhythm of the poem? Since this poem is an anti-poem, what makes it an
anti-poem is that it does not have a specific rhythm because there is no pattern and
the rhythm changes too often for their to be a definite rhythm. Each phrase is a
different length, with a different amount of consonants, with random breaks in
different parts of the anti-poem that break up any forming rhythm. Therefore, this
anti-poem has no rhythm with it being an anti-poem.
Is there movement within the poem? As stated earlier, since the poem is an anti-poem the movement within it
is very sporadic and never the same. There are many random breaks and indentation that slows the anti-
poem, but then it is sped up again after it reaches a sentence with drawn out phrasing with many short words.
So, there is no definite movement within the poem.

21. Interpretation of Lonelyhearts
The hidden meaning behind the anti-poem Lonelyhearts is fairly obvious for the short anti-poem.
Through the entire poem, the narrator discusses how men want their women to give them
“services”(Parra) with no complaint or commitment. This represents that the women of Chile were
being objectified by a sexist, oppressive society. Parra is bringing to light how vulgar this is
through his sarcastic and ironic tone through the poem, to capture how ironic it is that men
would treat women so badly when women were the very aspect of life they desired. In the poem it
states, “Provided a lady knows how to move her hips”(Parra 12). This highlights that the men
within the poem only desire a woman if that woman is to entertain, put on a show, impress, and
give the man what he wants. They are not being presented as sentient beings. For historical
context, at the time this poem was written, which is in 1964, women were being objectified by
men. Women struggled to find work, get an education, vote in election, or even have their say in
society in general. Many women had to resort to prostitution just earn some form of money just
to survive, this anti-poem alluding to this several times. Given the historical context and the
content within the anti-poem, it can be seen that the anti-poem Lonelyhearts by Nicanor Parra
can be seen as representing how women within the Chilean society are oppressed by the opposite
sex, being viewed as only objects of personal pleasure to these men.

22. Work Cited
"Chile." Gale Encyclopedia of World History: Governments, vol. 1, Gale, 2008. Gale Virtual Reference Library,
http://ezproxy.pierce.ctc.edu:2085/apps/doc/CX3048600082/GVRL?u=puya65247&sid=GVRL&xid=680058d6.
Chan, Sewell. “Nicanor Parra, Chilean Voice in an ‘Anti-Poet’ Movement, Dies at 103.(Foreign Desk)(Obituary).” The New York
Times, The New York Times Company, 24 Jan. 2018.
"Parra, Nicanor." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature, vol. 3, Gale, 2009, pp. 1200-1204. Gale Virtual Reference
Library, http://ezproxy.pierce.ctc.edu:2085/apps/doc/CX2507200362/GVRL?u=puya65247&sid=GVRL&xid=fc006163.
Parra, Nicanor, and Oliphant, Dave. After-Dinner Declarations . Host Publications, 2009.
Parra, Nicanor. Poems and Antipoems. New Directions Pub. Corp., 1967.
Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield., and Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield. Critical Survey of Poetry. 4th ed., Salem Press, 2014.
Riley, Carolyn. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Research Co, 1973.
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