"Ode to my Socks" is Pablo Neruda's short but eloquent poem about the exquisite beauty and soul satisfaction found in mundane objects, a pair of socks, found in everyday life.

As the poem begins, the narrator has received a gift of a pair of hand knitted, woolen socks from a woman named Maru Mori. The narrator is amazed that this woman could have made such fine items as soft as rabbits with her own big hands, which are like those of a sheepherder.

Slipping his feet into the socks feels to the narrator as if he is encasing his feet in jewel cases with mystical qualities, held together with bits of twilight and goatskin.

The narrator considers his feet entirely inappropriate to wear such beautiful items and compares his feet to fish, two long sharks, immense blackbirds, and cannons, which are also elements that would...