My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I’ll join him right there,
but now he’s gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I’ll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he’d keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea’s movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean’s spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don’t now and never did lie to each other.

So now he’s gone and I buried him,
and that’s all there is to it.

Summary of “A Dog Has Died” by Pablo Neruda

In “A Dog Has Died,” Pablo Neruda poignantly reflects on the recent death of his beloved dog. The poem opens with the straightforward declaration that the speaker’s dog has died and has been buried in the garden next to an old machine.

The speaker, who identifies as a materialist and does not believe in a human afterlife, imagines a heaven specifically for dogs. In this heaven, he envisions his dog waiting for him, wagging its tail in friendship.

The speaker describes the dog’s personality, highlighting its independence and good manners. Unlike other dogs, this one never bothered the speaker or behaved in a servile manner.

Instead, the dog maintained a dignified distance, offering companionship without demanding attention or affection excessively. The dog’s gaze, filled with purity and understanding, made the speaker feel recognized and valued without any expectations.

The speaker fondly recalls walks on the beach at Isla Negra, where the dog joyfully played in the surf. The dog’s unrestrained happiness and autonomy are sources of envy for the speaker, who admires the dog’s ability to live fully in the moment.

This carefree nature of the dog contrasts with the speaker’s more complicated human emotions and existential thoughts.

In the closing lines, the speaker acknowledges the finality of his dog’s death, stating that there are no goodbyes between them because their relationship was honest and straightforward.

The dog is now gone, buried in the garden, and that is the simple, unembellished reality of the situation.

Overall, the poem captures the deep bond between the speaker and his dog, expressing themes of love, loss, and the pure, unspoken connection shared between a human and their pet.