Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3: What Poem Is Spock Quoting To Nurse Chapel?

In the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Wedding Bells Blues," Spock (Ethan Peck) awakens in bed next to Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) on the morning of their wedding. They are blissed out and happy to celebrate their nuptials, and they are eager to see all their friends dressed up at the ceremony. 

This is a curious place for Spock to wake up, however, as the pair had never gotten engaged. Indeed, they recently announced that they would certainly not be pursuing a relationship, allowing Chapel to begin a relationship with a man maned Korby (Cillian O'Sullivan). As Spock will eventually learn, reality has shifted under him at the hands of a playful godlike being played by Rhys Darby. This godlike being has sensed that Spock and Chapel are into each other, and decided to use his powers to stage a wedding, erasing everyone's memories and forcing them to play-act a grand romance. Only Spock and Korby seen to be aware of what's happening, and only after a specially timed emotional outburst. Will Spock and Korby be able to confront their captor and free themselves of the illusion before Spock marries Chapel?

Of course, the false wedding gets as far as the actual ceremony, and Spock and Chapel face each other on the altar. With the godlike entity officiating, Spock has to continue the charade. He quotes the first stanza of "Love Sonnet XI," a famous 1959 love poem by celebrated Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, and Chapel is moved to tears. Spock gets to admit he has feelings for her, even though he knows the marriage is a sham. 

"Star Trek" has always been fond of classical and literary references, so now we Trekkies get to delve into that poem. What was the significance of "I Crave Your Mouth?" Let us analyze.

The full stanza that Spock quotes is as follows: 

"I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps." 

Neruda's poem goes on to compare himself to a hungry puma, hunting his lover's heart like prey, and describing her hands as "the color of savage harvest." He wants to "eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body." Neruda's poem is insatiably thirsty, comparing love to a primal appetite. It's not explicitly sexual, but it is a poem of the body, a poem of desire. Lust is pressing up from under the surface with every word. 

It's immediately worth noting that 1959 is surprisingly recent for "Star Trek." The franchise, when making literary references, typically likes to look back centuries, reaching deep into the realm of public domain: Shakespeare, Berlioz, Doyle. The age of its references rid "Star Trek" of a commercial dimension (fitting for the franchise's post-capitalist future), while implying that the classics will remain classics in perpetuity. 

"Love Sonnet XI" is an unusual choice of poem for Spock — a character that has, throughout the history of "Star Trek," been withdrawn and emotionless. "Strange New Worlds" introduces a previously unseen chapter in Spock's life, when he tipped sharply away from the cold logic of his Vulcan father and fell full bore into human emotions. He's a little stiff, but the "Strange New Worlds" version of Spock is smoldering with lust. Although it's only about five years until the events of the original "Star Trek," we've caught up with Spock when he's going through something like an adolescence. 

Pablo Neruda is one of the most celebrated poets of his generation, and is often cited as one of the best of all time. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, and died of prostate cancer in 1973, right in the middle of Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état. There were rumors for many years that Neruda, when he was seeking treatment, was secretly injected with poison by Pinochet's military stooges. This is not true, but it certainly seemed possible. 

Neruda was, as one might infer from those rumors about his death, a passionate Communist, and joined the Communist party in 1945. He sought to make poetry accessible to the people, ridding literature of its bourgeois trappings. Early in his career, Neruda felt that art shouldn't be political. Later, he took the complete opposite viewpoint, declaring (correctly) that all art was political. He was once quoted as saying (according to the Pit Journal): 

"Magic and craft are the two permanent wings of art, but I believe that it is those who distance themselves from the bonfire on which culture is burning, instead of rescuing it (even if it means burning one's own hands), who are traitors to poetry." 

All artists, he felt, must engage with culture and politics, else they are being irresponsible. Neruda is, in this regard, perfect for "Star Trek," another work (albeit a commercial one) that aims — at the best of times — for cultural commentary. "Star Trek" has many episodes that address fascism, racism, sexism, revolution, terrorism, homophobia, and the dangers of capitalism. It's set in a post-scarcity utopia without money or religion, where resources or properly allocated and technology is devoted to ridding the galaxy of war and want. Neruda was alive long enough to have seen "Star Trek," but as far as I have been able to determine, he never watched it. I think he might have liked it.