Reviews

Some good stuff here, a good deal of triteness too. Not sure how icky I feel (def at least a bit) about Neruda’s use of his amore as running symbol rather than person. Lot of the poems are about how he woke her up, how she waited for him, how she maintains the homestead for his weary soldier’s breast.

I’m sure Bolaño would disagree, but I preferred the poems that were more politically minded and about Chile and Neruda’s exile, than his super heterosexual normative “love” poems.

Also, a tooooon of redundancies. And not for repetition’s sake. The dude wrote about nature like a city boy who knows zilch about flowers, trees, et cetera.

jbogerhawkins's review against another edition

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I really like most of Neruda's other love poems, but these were so creepy and possessive? It makes sense that they were originally published in 1952, because even by the 70s I think lines like "I am your master" would have been poorly received by leftist readers.

magicgardener's review against another edition

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3.0

2021 (5stars), Neruda says it how it is, he falls in love deeply. You can see how certain he is by how he does not shy to describe every enchanting feature and fault of the person he loves.

Edit: 2023 (3 stars), I actually don't love this so much anymore, I find it repetative and not really describing the realities of love, just the idealised version of a woman he doesn't seem to fully flesh out. There is some good imagery in there, but it gets repetative and doesn't offer many new ideas. Just a man desperate for 'love' or whatever he thinks that is. I get it, love does feel like dying sometimes, but the key word is sometimes. Neruda explores the nuance of his relationships, only in terms of extreme obsession or hatred (furies). 'The Wrong Step' remains to be as clever as always. I want to read poerty about the mundainities of life and sharing them with another. I believe "The Whistler" by Mary Oliver is a great example.

nydstilheden's review against another edition

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5.0

lots of beautiful poems.

kurtwombat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

One of my favorite collections of poetry is Pablo Neruda’s 20 LOVE POEMS AND A SONG OF DESPAIR. Simple and precise, manages an amazing intimacy with seemingly little effort. Maybe I love it partly because of it’s singlemindedness, focused intensity on what it was trying to say. Each poem exhibiting a clarity of revelation. And I was young when I read it, when the discovery of poetry is almost as moving as the poetry itself. Because of this, perhaps my expectations for THE CAPTAIN’S VERSES were unfair. I can’t know, but here we are. THE CAPTAIN’S VERSES contains a handful of superlative poems {including YOUR LAUGHTER, IF YOU FORGET ME, LETTER ON THE ROAD} but also a sprinkle I just couldn’t latch on to, even after multiple starts, I simply resolved to look for a few lines of beauty. Not every voice can be heard, and that might be on me. I appreciate that Neruda is going for a broader spectrum—our love is not to be considered as an isolated thing but as part of the world we live in. Start with 20 LOVE POEMS and then drop by here.

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