Throughout his Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Pablo Neruda uses many different patterns of imagery to convey emotions in a mystical, indirect way that adds to the reader’s experience. Images related to the sea, flowers, war, and to nature in general are common in most of the poems in this collection. However, there is an additional pattern of imagery that, while not as common as the others, still has a profound effect on the interpretation of Neruda’s work. Insect imagery, especially images of butterflies and bees, adds to the reader’s experience and interpretation of the poems, because the writer uses them as a way to further develop the mysterious female character in his works and the relationship he has with her. In the poem “Girl Lithe and Tawny”, Neruda is portraying his love, “his” woman, through images of different elements of nature, thus also describing different aspects of her personality. One of these images is that of the bee, where Neruda writes, “You are the frenzied youth of the bee,” as if he was speaking to the mystery woman. In this context, the bee is representing her liveliness and energy. This is effective, because the connotation of a bee is often of its buzzing energy, and of the life-filled springtime. The thought of spring itself brings to mind youth, as that is the season of new life and of rejuvenation. Neruda is implying that the mystery female is youthful and full of life, thus subtly developing her character. The “frenzy” Neruda