Mahmoud Darwish's poem, "*Dhahibuna ila al Qasidah: Ila Pablo Neruda*" (Going to the Poem: To Pablo Neruda) published in 1975 in memory of Neruda's death signaled the beginning of a new lyricism in his poetic style; a shift and development that is characteristic of his later poems. It was also a tribute to Neruda the poet and revolutionary icon who influenced several generations of Arab poets. My paper will explore Darwish's engagement with Neruda on the textual (stylistic, structural, thematic) and sociopolitical levels. It will begin with an analysis of Neruda's influence on Darwish's later lyrical development in terms of themes and imagery. This will be followed with an examination of the ways in which Neruda, the revolutionary icon, has affected and changed the means by which Darwish viewed the role of the poet in a society engaged in a struggle to decolonize itself politically as well as culturally. Just as Pablo Neruda came to be known as the poet of Chile, Mahmoud Darwish emerged as the poet of Palestine. How did these two men construct the nation? What kind of tools and textual strategies have been utilized in the process? The paper will conclude by tying these threads together and linking Darwish and Neruda to the larger international network of leftist poets of the decolonization period.