What is the theme in Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda?

Political affiliation is a central theme in his poetry. Neruda started to become politically aware at a fairly young age. After the publication of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, he was appointed to the honorary post of Chilean consul. He was just 20 years old and was travellng to places like Rangoon, Sri Lanka, Batavia, and Indonesia. In the 1930's, he was appointed as consul in Barcelona, Spain, where he met people who were involved in radical politics and the Communist Party. It was during this time that a noted shift in the tone of his poetry could be felt. He was moving away from his more personal writing and began communicating instead his social and political idealism.