A Dog Has Died

1. D. Neruda’s poem moves through several emotional phases as the speaker mourns the loss of their dog, from believing the dog will go to heaven, to lamenting the dog’s loss, and ending with his feeling envious of the dog’s happiness and joy.

2. A. This poem is an elegy, which is a poem written upon the death of someone in order to honor or commemorate them. Therefore, the tone is elegiac and commemorative.

3. C. In Stanza 5, the speaker has an emotional, vivid memory of walking with their dog “on the shores of the sea / in the lonely winter of Isla Negra” (Lines 38-39).

4. D. The poem’s claim about dogs near the poem’s end is evident in Stanza 6 when the speaker comes to the realization that only dogs understand true joy because they can experience it without shame, guilt, or embarrassment. This is evident in the following lines:

Joyful, joyful, joyful,

as only dogs know how to be happy

with only the autonomy

of their shameless spirit.

                                               (Lines 46-49)