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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Te amo sin saber como, ni cuando, ni de donde,...
Probably one of Neruda's most famous lines of poetry, translating to, "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,..." This collection has, as its name suggests, so many of what are considered his essential works. And I loved reading through many for the first time, and through this translation. Excellent starting point for anyone looking to explore the world of Neruda's poetry.
“There are sulfur-colored birds and horrific intestines
adorning the doors of houses I hate,
there are dentures dropped in a coffeepot,
mirrors
that must have bawled with shame and terror,
there are umbrellas everywhere, poisons and belly
buttons.”
When they say, “Poetry is a language,” I’ll think of Neruda. His poetry is equivocal and reads like a new dialect of poetry. The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems is an intricate and beautiful collection of poems. Neruda’s imagery is rich and whimsical but cutting simultaneously. I loved reading the poems in both Spanish and English. However, the Spanish versions are much more harmonious.
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
I'm very hit and miss with Neruda. I don't really enjoy most of his poems, but the ones that hit hit very hard. From touching love poems to powerful political pieces to celebrations of the simple, his best works are some of my very favorites, and this collection is as good as any other I've found.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
the simple magnificence
of foliage,
the dark, damp network
of new roots,
the ancient and new dimensions
of another chestnut tree in the earth.
I’m fearful this translation project was a rubbish one. The book was a gift years ago in Miami, though the friend who gave it knew ten languages and I’m sure wasn’t concerned about fidelity.
I’ll pursue other editions do as to not fall firmly in the camp of Borges.
of foliage,
the dark, damp network
of new roots,
the ancient and new dimensions
of another chestnut tree in the earth.
I’m fearful this translation project was a rubbish one. The book was a gift years ago in Miami, though the friend who gave it knew ten languages and I’m sure wasn’t concerned about fidelity.
I’ll pursue other editions do as to not fall firmly in the camp of Borges.
Some I loved. Some I liked. Some I didn't get. Some pissed me off. Poems here that some see as sexy, I see as sexist.
emotional
fast-paced
Pablo Neruda may be my all time favorite poet. I first heard his poetry in a poignant scene from Patch Adams. It was the most beautiful, most moving poem I had ever heard (Sonnet XVII from his One Hundred Love Sonnets/Cien Sonetos de Amor). Even though I was young, and not a reader at the time, I sought that poem at my next opportunity. I have loved Neruda ever since. He is the earthiest of lovers. He is enraptured with his wife, and wed to his native country, Chile. He doesn't speak abstractly. He does not speak of heaven and earth. He speaks of soil, mountains, and salted sea. He speaks of wheat, crackling bread, and jasmine. His wife is not "woman" but a mini-cosmos of the Chilean landscape. Here you fall in love, you smell mountain air, and have your hair whipped into the fury of ocean breeze. My sister got me this for a birthday present years ago and I've only just got to reading it. Would that I had read it sooner. Open a book. Read poetry. Taste the earth. And please, fall in love every opportunity you have.
emotional
reflective