A collection of poems by the Nobel Prize-winning author features translations, many of them specially commissioned, of almost six hundred works. - (Baker & Taylor)
A single-volume collection of works by the Nobel Prize-winning poet features translations of almost six hundred key pieces and features specially commissioned new translations. - (Baker & Taylor)
The most comprehensive English-language collection of work ever by “the greatest poet of the twentieth century—in any language” (Gabriel García Márquez)
In his work a continent awakens to consciousness,” wrote the Swedish Academy in awarding the Nobel Prize to Pablo Neruda, author of more than thirty-five books of poetry and one of Latin America’s most revered writers and political figures—a loyal member of the Communist party, a lifelong diplomat and onetime senator, a man lionized during his lifetime as “the people’s poet.”
Born Neftali Basoalto, Neruda adopted his pen name in fear of his family’s disapproval, and yet by the age of twenty-five he was already famous for the book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, which remains his most beloved. During the next fifty years, a seemingly boundless metaphorical language linked his romantic fantasies and the fierce moral and political compass—exemplified in books such as Canto General—that made him an adamant champion of the dignity of ordinary men and women.
Edited and with an introduction by Ilan Stavans, this is the most comprehensive single-volume collection of this prolific poet’s work in English. Here the finest translations of nearly six hundred poems by Neruda are collected and join specially commissioned new translations that attest to Neruda’s still-resounding presence in American letters.
- (
Holtzbrinck)
Pablo Neruda (1904–73), Chile’s greatest poet, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971.
Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.
- (
Holtzbrinck)
Booklist Reviews
/*Starred Review*/ The great Chilean poet Neruda, who received the Nobel Prize in 1971, two years before his death at age 69, acknowledged the twofold path of his poetry when he wrote, "I have a pact of love with beauty: / I have a pact of blood with my people." The earth's glory was the portal to truth for Neruda, and his nature poems are as ravishing in the splendor of their brilliant metaphors and the eroticism of their luscious detail as his renowned love poems. The poet's deep compassion for humankind, ardor for history, and attention to politics also inspired him to write incisively of conquistadors and tyrants, war and corporate imperialism. Passionate and prolific, Neruda himself was a force of nature, filling 35 books with poetry remarkable for its "simplicity, honesty, and conviction." Critic Ilan Stavans has created the first comprehensive English-language survey of Neruda's legendary oeuvre, judiciously selecting and expertly discussing 600 poems to create a genuinely invaluable and deeply pleasurable volume. Major works are presented in the original Spanish in this literary landmark, and the adept translators include such outstanding poets as Martin Espada, Jane Hirshfield, W. S. Merwin, and Mark Strand. ((Reviewed July 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews
Library Journal Reviews
This hefty anthology offers 600 chronologically arranged poems from the work of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, perhaps the most extensively translated poet in the world. Rejecting the abstract and evasive poetry of the 19th century, Neruda was inspired by humble things like socks and the smell of firewood and wrote fiercely of social injustice, celebrating heroes such as Fray Bartolome de las Casas and Abraham Lincoln and damning oppressors (e.g., "General Franco in Hell"). Editor Stavans (Latin American studies, Amherst) draws from a pool of 36 translators, including Angel Flores (who first translated Neruda into English in 1944), Robert Bly, John Felstiner, Galway Kinnell, Nathaniel Tarn, Alastair Reid, James Wright, and Clark Zlotchew. Consistent with Neruda's enthusiasm for multiple translations of his poems, Stavans offers more than one version of some poems, although the Spanish originals are only occasionally provided. If, as Stavans believes, 30 years after his death the time is right for a reappraisal of Neruda, then this volume is just what's needed to jump-start the process. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Jack Shreve, Allegany Coll. of Maryland, Cumberland Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Reviews
It took 36 translators to capture Neruda's greatness, evidenced by the 600 chronologically arranged poems given here. It's hardly complete-the protean Neruda produced a whopping 35 books-but editor Stavans has gone far in giving us the best view possible of the Nobel prize winner. (LJ 6/1/03) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
continued
XII: THE RIVERS OF SONG
I. Carta a Miguel Otero Silva, en Caracas (1949)
Letter to Miguel Otero Silva, in Caracas (1949)
V. To Miguel Hernández, Murdered in the Prisons of Spain
XIII: NEW YEAR'S CHORALE FOR THE COUNTRY IN DARKNESS
VIII. Chile's Voices
XIV. I Recall the Sea
XV. There's No Forgiving
XVII. Happy Year to My Country in Darkness
XIV: THE GREAT OCEAN
IV. The Men and the Islands
V. Rapa Nui
VIII. The Oceanics
IX. Antarctica
XI. La muerte
Death
XII. The Wave
XVII. The Enigmas
XXI. Leviathan
XXIII. Not Only the Albatross
XIV: I AM
I. The Frontier (1904)
III. The House
VI. The Traveler (1927)
VII. Far from Here
X. The War (1936)
XI. Love
from THE CAPTAIN'S VERSES/
LOS VERSOS DEL CAPITÁN (1951-1952)
LOVE
In You the Earth
The Queen
The Potter
September 8
Tus manos
Your Hands
Tu risa
Your Laughter
The Fickle One
The Son
THE FURIES
The Hurt
El sueño
The Dream
Oblivion
You Would Come
LIVES
The Mountain and the River
The Flag
Little America
Epithalamium
La carta en el camino
Letter on the Road
from ELEMENTAL ODES/
ODAS ELEMENTALES (1952-1957)
The Invisible Man
Oda a la alcachofa
Ode to the Artichoke
Ode to the Artichoke
Oda al átomo
Ode to the Atom
Oda a la crítica
Ode to Criticism
ri0Ode to Numbers
Ode to the Past
Ode to Laziness
Ode to the Earth
Ode to My Suit
Ode to Sadness
Ode to Wine
NEW ELEMENTAL ODES
Oda a la crítica (II)
Ode to Criticism (II)
Oda al dicdonario
Ode to the Dictionary
Ode to the Seagull
Ode to Firefoot
Oda a Walt Whitman
Ode to Walt Whitman
THIRD BOOK OF ODES
Ode to Bees
Ode to Bicycles
Ode to a Village Movie Theater
Ode to Age
Ode to a Stamp Album
Ode to Maize
Ode to the Double Autumn
Oda al viejo poeta
Ode to an Aged Poet
from EXTRAVAGARIA/
ESTRAVAGARIO (1957-1958)
To Rise to the Sky . . .
Pido silencio
I Ask for Silence
I'm Asking for Silence
And the City Now Has Gone
Repertoire
With Her
Point
Fear
Cuánto pasa en un día
How Much Happens in a Day
Soliloquy at Twilight
V
Horses
We Are Many
To the Foot from Its Child
Aquí vivimos
This Is Where We Live
Getaway
The Unhappy One
Pastoral
Bestiary
Autumn Testament
from VOYAGES AND HOMECOMINGS/
NAVEGACIONES Y REGRESOS (1957-1959)
Ode to Things
Ode to the Chair
from ONE HUNDRED LOVE SONNETS/
CIEN SONETOS DE AMOR (1957-1959)
MORNING
III
IV
IV
VI
IX
IX
XI
XVI
XVII
XXVII
MIDDAY
XXXIV
XXXIV
XXXIX
XL
XLVII
XLVIII
XLVIII
L
LIII
EVENING
LV
LIX
LXIII
LXXVI
LXXVI
NIGHT
LXXX
XC
XCI
XCV
XCVII
C
fromp0 SONG OF PROTEST/
CANCIÓN DE GESTA (1958-1968)
IV. Cuba Appears
VI. Ancient History
XI. Treason
XII. Death
XIX. To Fidel Castro
XXII. So Is My Life
XXVII. Caribbean Birds
XXIX. No me lo pidan
Do Not Ask Me
XXXV. The "Free" Press
XL. Tomorrow Throughout the Caribbean
from THE STONES OF CHILE/
LAS PIEDRAS DE CHILE (1959-1961)
History
The Bull
Solitudes
The Stones of Chile
The Blind Statue
Buey
Ox
Theater of the Gods
Yo volveré
I Will Return
The Ship
The Creation
The Turtle
Las piedras y los pájaros
The Stones and the Birds
Al caminante
To the Traveler
Stones for María
Nada más
Nothing More
from CEREMONIAL SONGS/
CANTOS CEREMONIALES (1959-1961)
THE UNBURIED WOMAN OF PAITA
Prologue
I. The Peruvian Coast
II. The Unburied Woman
III. The Sea and Manuelita
IV. We Will Not Find Her
V. The Absent Lover
VI. Portrait
VII. In Vain We Search for You
VIII. Material Manuela
IX. The Game
IX. Riddle
XI. Epitaph
XII. She
XIII. Questions
XIV. Of All Silence
XV. Who Knows
XVI. Exiles
I Don't Understand
XVII. The Loneliness
XVII. The Flower
XIX. Goodbye
XX. The Resurrected Woman
XXI. Invocation
XXII. Now We Are Leaving Paita
THE BULL
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
s22VIII
IX
CORDILLERAS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
CATACLYSM
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
LAUTRÉAMONT RECONQUISTADO
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
LAUTRÉAMONT RECONQUERED
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
OCEAN LADY
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
from FULLY EMPOWERED/
PLENOS PODERES (1961-1962)
0Deber del poeta
The Poet's Obligation
The Word
Ocean
The Sea
It Is Born
Planet
Serenata
Serenade
To Wash a Child
Ode to Ironing
To the Dead Poor Man
Goodbyes
Spring
To Don Asterio Alarcón, Clocksmith of Valparaíso
The Night in Isla Negra
Past
El pueblo
The People
Plenos poderes
Fully Empowered
from ISLA NEGRA/
MEMORIAL DE ISLA NEGRA (1962-1964)
I. WHERE THE RAIN IS BORN
The First Journey
The Father
The First Sea
The South
Sex
La poesía
Poetry
Shyness
Swan Lake
The Human Condition
Superstitions
The Rooming House on the Calle Maruri
II. THE MOON IN THE LABYRINTH
Loves: Terusa (I)
Loves: Terusa (II)
Bread-Poetry
My Crazy Friends
First Travelings
Opium in the East
Monsoons
October Fullness
Lost Letters
i0III. CRUEL FIRE
Ay! Mi ciudad perdida
Oh, My Lost City
Tal vez cambié desde entonces
Perhaps I've Changed Since Then
Revolutions
The Unknown One
Insomnia
Goodbye to the Snow
Tides
Exilio
Exile
IV. THE HUNTER AFTER ROOTS
Brother Cordillera
What Is Born with Me
Appointment with Winter
The Hero
The Forest
Night
Mexican Serenade
Para la envidia
To Envy
V. CRITICAL SONATA
Ars Magnetica
To Those at Odds
Day Dawns
Solitude
It Is Not Necessary
Memory
The Long Day Called Thursday
What We Accept Without Wanting To
El futuro es espacio
The Future Is Space
from ART OF BIRDS/
ARTE DE PÁJAROS (1962-1965)
Migracíon
Migration
PAJARINTOS
Wandering Albatross
American Kestrel
Guanay Cormorant
Slender-Billed Parakeet
Gray Gull
Magellanic Woodpecker
INTERMISSION
Chilean Lapwing
Chilean Mockingbird
PAJARANTES
Dodobird
from A HOUSE IN THE SAND/
UNA CASA EN LA ARENA (1956-1966)
Amor para este libro
Love for This Book
from LA BARCAROLA/
LA BARCAROLA (1964-1967)
The Watersong Ends
from THE HANDS OF DAY/
LAS MANOS DEL DÍA (1967-1968)
I. Guilty
XL. In Vietnam
LVIII. El Pasado
The Past
LX. Verb
from WORLD'S END/
FIN DEL MUNDO (1968-1969)
VII
The Seeker
XI
The Sadder Century
from SEAQUAKE/
MAREMOTO (1968)
Maremoto
Seaquake
Starfish
i0Jaiva
Farewell to the Offerings of the Sea
from STILL ANOTHER DAY/
AÚN (1969)
VI
VII
XII
XVII
XVII
XX
XXVIII
from THE FLAMING SWORD/
LA ESPADA ENCENDIDA (1969-1970)
XVIII. Someone
from STONES FROM THE SKY/
LAS PIEDRAS DEL CIELO (1970)
I
II
V
XI
XI
XIII
XV
XIX
XXIII
XXVIII
XXVIII
from BARREN TERRAIN/
GEOGRAFÍA INFRUCTUOSA (1969-1972)
Numbered
from THE SEPARATE ROSE/
LA ROSA SEPARADA (1971-1972)
Men II
Men IX
Men X
Los hombres XI
Men XI
Men XIV
from A CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NIXON AND PRAISE FOR THE CHILEAN REVOLUTION/INCITACIÓN AL NIXONICIDIO Y ALABANZA DE LA REVOLUCIÓN CHILENA (1972-1973)
I. I Begin by Invoking Walt Whitman
II. I Say Goodbye to Other Subjects
V. The Judgment
VII. Victory
IX. I Call upon You
XVIII. Come with Me
XVIII. Portrait of the Man
XXV. Against Death
XXX. Mar y amor de Quevedo
The Sea and the Love of Quevedo
XXXII. September 4, 1970
from THE SEA AND THE BELLS/
EL MAR Y LAS CAMPANAS (1971-1973)
Buscar
To Search
I Am Grateful
My Name Was Reyes
I Will Tell You
A Small Animal
It Rains
This Broken Bell
from 2000/
2000 (1971)
I. The Masks
IV. La tierra
The Earth
IX. Celebration
from ELEGY/
ELEGÍA (1971-1972)
XIV
par
from THE YELLOW HEART/
EL CORAZÓN AMARILLO (1971-1972)
I Still Get Around
Love Song
Reject the Lightning
Disasters
Morning with Air
El tiempo que no se perdió
Time That Wasn't Lost
Suburbs
from WINTER GARDEN/
JARDÍN DE INVIERNO (1971-1973)
The Egoist
Gautama Cristo
Gautama Christ
Modestly
With Quevedo, in Springtime
Winter Garden
In Memory of Manuel and Benjamín
Animal of Light
Un perro ha muerto
A Dog Has Died
La estrella
The Star
from THE BOOK OF QUESTIONS/
LIBRO DE LAS PREGUNTAS (1971-1973)
I
VII
IX
IX
X
XI
XXI
XXXIX
XXXIX
XLI
XLV
LXV
LXXII
from SELECTED FAILINGS/
DEFECTOS ESCOGIDOS (1971-1973)
Triste canción para aburrir a cualquiera
Sad Song to Bore Everyone
El Gran Orinador
The Great Urinator
HOMAGE:
FOURTEEN OTHER WAYS OF LOOKING AT PABLO NERUDA
MIGUEL ALGARÍN
Puerto Rico, Puerto Pobre [Song of Protest]
I Come from the South [Song of Protest]
APRIL BERNARD
From My Journey [The Sea and the Bells]
ROBERT BLY
I Wish the Woodcutter Would Wake Up [Canto General]
The Strike [Canto General]
Ode to the Watermelon [Voyages and Homecomings]
RAFAEL CAMPO
XLIV [One Hundred Love Sonnets]
LXVI [One Hundred Love Sonnets]
XCIV [One Hundred Love Sonnets]
MARTÍN ESPADA
The Celestial Poets [Canto General]
In Salvador, Death [Song of Protest]
Octopi [Seaquake]
EDWARD HIRSCH
Ode to the Book I [Elemental Odes]
Ode to the Book II [Elemental Odes]
JANE HIRSHFIELD
0
Ode to Time [Elemental Odes]
GALWAY KINNELL
I Explain a Few Things [Residence on Earth]
PHILIP LEVINE
Ode to Salt [Elemental Odes]
W. S. MERWIN
V. So That You Will Hear Me [Twenty Love Poems]
XVI. In My Sky at Twilight [Twenty Love Poems]
PAUL MULDOON
Ode to a Hare-Boy [Elemental Odes]
GARY SOTO
House [Ceremonial Songs]
MARK STRAND
Ode to the Smell of Firewood [New Elemental Odes]
Ode to a Pair of Socks [New Elemental Odes]
Ode to Enchanted Light [Third Book of Odes]
JAMES WRIGHT
Toussaint L'Ouverture [Canto General]
Bibliography
Spanish Editions
Translations into English
Biographical and Critical Works
Notes on Neruda's Life and Poetry
Acknowledgments
Index of First Lines
