In his long life as a poet, Pablo Neruda succeeded in becoming what many poets have aspired to, but never achieved: a public voice, a voice not just for the people of his country, but for his entire continent. Widely translated, he probably reached more readers than any poet in history; justly so, for, as he often said, his “poet’s obligation” was to become a voice for all those who had no voice.

Born in 1904 in the rainy south of Chile, he enjoyed from an early age the luck of attention. One of his first books, Twenty Love Poems, became a bible for lovers in the Spanish language, and confirmed him in his poet’s vocation. At the same time, he pursued a lifelong career as a diplomat, serving in a series of consular posts in Asia and Europe. In 1971, while serving as Chilean ambassador to France, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

In a famous essay, “On Impure Poetry” Neruda calls for “a poetry as impure as old clothes, as a body with its foodstains and its shame, with wrinkles, observations, dreams, wakefulness, prophesies, declarations of love and hate, stupidities, shocks, idylls, political beliefs, negotiations, doubts, affirmations, and taxes.” His poems everywhere manifest his entranced absorption in everything around him, human and natural, in a voice that is loving and scathing as occasion demands.

Some of the poems in this volume include:

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines
The Heights of Machu Picchu
Ode to the Tomato
Body of a Woman

The poems in this volume, presented side-by-side in English and Spanish, were selected by Neruda himself, at the instigation of Nathaniel Tarn, the editor. The richness and variety provide ample evidence of the many selves and modes of the most prolific and most loved poet of our time.

About the Author

Born in 1904 in the south of Chile, Pablo Neruda enjoyed great success as both a poet and diplomat. One of his first books, Twenty Love Poems, became a bible for lovers of the Spanish language. In 1971, while serving as Chilean ambassador to France, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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