The Poetry of Pablo Neruda

I had read some of Neruda's works, but I wanted a large collection that surveyed a wide range of his output. There is no complete works of his English. It would take up several volumes if there was. This collection succeeds admirably in providing readers with as comprehensive as a survey as there is in the English language. The result is a rich and beautiful outpouring of one of the greatest poets of all time. The collection spans his entire career and focuses on what are generally considered Neruda's best works. I love the fact that there are only occasional poems with the Spanish translation available. I love this because I only read in English, however, I do enjoy reading the occasional Spanish poem out loud to hear the rhythm and to improve my language just a little. I don't know why translators don't do this more often. It seems that we usually get either a complete bilingual edition, or a complete monolingual edition. A complete bilingual edition would have added an extra 800 pages or so. It does not make sense for a comprehensive volume for English readers. On another interesting note, some of the poems offer more than one translation, along with the Spanish original to compare them with. Also, the text features different translators. I like this because it will help me to select which translators to read in the future. Now that I am almost finished with this volume, I can't wait to get all of the complete translations as individual books, assuming that no one does come out with a complete works in English. Neruda is brilliant, breathtaking, political, metaphorical, powerful... I could go on. He really has it all. I highly recommend this volume for anyone who wants a comprehensive book of his English. It is one of my favorite poetry books. I return to it often.

Years ago I saw the movie Il Postino (The Postman)and came to know who Pablo Neruda was. I bought the soundtrack and discovered the poems being read by actors. Finally I discovered this book and am glad I purchased it. It is a joy to discover new poems each time I open the book.

Poetry Of Pablo Neruda isn't just another slim coverage of poet Neruda's works: it's a definitive, comprehensive collection which makes available in a single volume of English nearly six hundred of his works, many in new translation, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. This sourcebook is an essential addition to any collection seeking a comprehensive gathering of Neruda's achievements under one cover: a 'must' for any college-level collection and many a public library holding.

I had never read Pablo Neruda's poetry before until my girlfriend gave me this book for my birthday. I loved it! The early romantic poems are amazing. I also loved the way the Chilean poet wrote about his own country and about poverty and repression in Latin America. The reader gets a sense of history through an artistic viewpoint. There are plenty of poems in this excellent collection and the translations are really good. I think the editor did a great job. I highly recommend it.

This is an excellent work. It is written in an elegantbelles lettres style with translation into the Spanish language.The poetry of Pablo Neruda documented important periods ofthe 20th century . i.e. the Russian Revolution, theSpanish Civil War, Stalinism etc. The poetry depicts lovescenes , as well as death and despair. Here are some samples:"For from so many bodies an invisible life.A river, mothers, flags, sons!A single body alive as life:One face of broken eyes watches the darknessLike a sword filled with celestial hopes."Try on another verse for size:"To the lands without name or numbers,the wind blew down from other domains,the rain brought celestial threads,and the god of the unpregnated altars restoredflowers and lives."Gabriel Garcia Marquez described Pablo Neruda as thegreatest poet of the 20th century in any language.