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A review by simplyb
Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda by Pablo Neruda
5.0
I know, I know, it's another collection of Neruda. You've read his love poems, his political poems, his sonorous verse, his tangible suffering with call to arms, his pleas for his people and his country, his weltschmerz for the people of Chile. So when a collection of his "lost poems" comes to light, you wonder if you should see this as monumental or just flagrant bandwagon rallying of some B-sides written and cast aside.
Well, I just finished it (after having seen/heard a reading of it performed at the ACE Hotel rooftop bar when AWP was in Los Angeles). And to this layman, it's indeed a revelation. The whole book speaks to context: the context of how the poems were found, how they were translated, what poems and chapbooks they abut. Scanned copies of the handwritten notes are sprinkled throughout to see the handwriting of a poetic master. Then, of course, the original Spanish typewritten transpositions and preceded as a section en bloc of the English translation.
Although this collection of poems never saw the light of day by his own hand, there is no mistaking that if he indeed did consider this an inferior representation of his craft, then even his most inferior output still rivals its cousins in mastery. Spanning his various muses, from the risqué to the idyllic to the poetically patriotic, the many faces and voices of Neruda are all represented in this collection of 21 lost and found poems, each with the imagery and the lyricism that we associate Neruda. It's beautiful, it cuts to the core, it uplifts and evokes. When poetry this beautiful is around, it's a wonder we don't all lay our troubles aside and see the world with the eyes that Neruda wants us to use. More than a worthy addition to his remarkable compendium of work, it could just be a postmortem part of his accepted canon. Thanks to Kickstarter supporters, thanks to Copper Canyon Press, thanks to the translator. It is all for me, for you, for us, for them.
Well, I just finished it (after having seen/heard a reading of it performed at the ACE Hotel rooftop bar when AWP was in Los Angeles). And to this layman, it's indeed a revelation. The whole book speaks to context: the context of how the poems were found, how they were translated, what poems and chapbooks they abut. Scanned copies of the handwritten notes are sprinkled throughout to see the handwriting of a poetic master. Then, of course, the original Spanish typewritten transpositions and preceded as a section en bloc of the English translation.
Although this collection of poems never saw the light of day by his own hand, there is no mistaking that if he indeed did consider this an inferior representation of his craft, then even his most inferior output still rivals its cousins in mastery. Spanning his various muses, from the risqué to the idyllic to the poetically patriotic, the many faces and voices of Neruda are all represented in this collection of 21 lost and found poems, each with the imagery and the lyricism that we associate Neruda. It's beautiful, it cuts to the core, it uplifts and evokes. When poetry this beautiful is around, it's a wonder we don't all lay our troubles aside and see the world with the eyes that Neruda wants us to use. More than a worthy addition to his remarkable compendium of work, it could just be a postmortem part of his accepted canon. Thanks to Kickstarter supporters, thanks to Copper Canyon Press, thanks to the translator. It is all for me, for you, for us, for them.