The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems

by Pablo Neruda, Mark Eisner (Editor)

Overview

Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature and the International Peace Prize

"The call for a more accessible collection of Neruda's important poems is answered with City Lights' The Essential Neruda , a 200-page edition that offers 50 of Neruda's key poems."— The Bloomsbury Review

This bilingual collection of Neruda's most essential poems is indispensable. Selected by a team of poets and prominent Neruda scholars in both Chile and the U.S., this is a definitive selection that draws from the entire breadth and width of Neruda's various styles and themes. An impressive group of translators that includes Alistair Reid, Stephen Mitchell, Robert Hass, Stephen Kessler and Jack Hirschman, have come together to revisit or completely retranslate the poems; and a handful of previously untranslated works are included as well. This selection sets the standard for a general, high—quality introduction to Neruda's complete oeuvre.

" ...The Essential Neruda will prove to be, for most readers, the best introduction to Neruda available in English. In fact, I can think of few other books that have given me so much delight so easily. At only 234 pages (bilingual), it somehow manages to convey the fullness of Neruda's poetic arc: Reading it is like reading the autobiography of a poetic sensibility (granted, the abridged version)."— The Austin Chronicle

"This book is a must-have for any reader interested in a definitive sampling of the most essential poems by one whom many consider one of the best poets of the 20th century."— Mike Nobles, Tulsa World

"What better way to celebrate the hundred years of Neruda's glorious residence on our earth than this selection of crucial works— in both languages!— by one of the greatest poets of all time. A splendid way to begin a love affair with our Pablo or, having already succumbed to his infinite charms, revisit him passionately again and again and yet again."— Ariel Dorfman, author of Konfidenz and The Nanny and the Iceberg

"If the notion had struck Pablo Neruda, I am quite sure that like Fernando Pessoa and Antonio Machado he would have given birth to what the former called heteronyms. Like Pessoa especially, Neruda can be several poets according to where he is and when and what his mood might be. It is quite fitting therefore that his work in this anthology be shared by various translators, for, ideally, a translator is but another heteronym speaking in a different tongue and at a different time. Neruda is well served here by these other voices of his."— Gregory Rabassa

"The editors and translators know how to extract gold from a lifetime of prolific writing. If you want a handy Neruda companion and don't know where to begin, this is it."— The Bloomsbury Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780872864283
Publisher:	City Lights Books
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	138,549
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Language:	Spanish

About the Author

Pablo Neruda is regarded as the greatest Latin American poet of the 20th century. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, his breadth of vision and wide range of themes are extraordinary, and his work continues to inspire new generations of writers. Mark Eisner, poet and translator, is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center for Latin American Studies. He has wandered and worked throughout Latin America from Cuba to Chile for years and is currently directing and producing a documentary film on Pablo Neruda.

Date of Birth:

July 12, 1904

Date of Death:

September 23, 1973

Place of Birth:

Parral, Chile

Place of Death:

Santiago, Chile

Education:

University of Chile, Santiago

Read an Excerpt

Prefatory Note by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

There have been many Pablos in history, and Pablo Neruda is one to exceed Picasso in the prolific production of great works, as well as in the depths of his proletarian empathies.

I met this Pablo in the Hotel Havana Libre (once the Havana Hilton) in 1959 in the first days of revolutionary euphoria, and that night he spoke his poetry to several thousands of multi-ethnic Fidelistas (still in combat clothes) in the great government hall where the late dictator had held forth. His rapport with the masses was evident in every poem he spoke (with standing ovations), just as poems in this book speak to us all, Spanish-speaking or not.

Neruda had told me before the reading, "I love your wide-open poetry" — by which he meant, I believe, the poetry of the Beat Generation that we had published in San Francisco and some of which had been published in translation in Lunes de Revolucion (the Monday literary supplement to the big daily).

And I answered, "You opened the door." I hope this edition will open the door for the greater American public (who needs these messages).

Lawrence Ferlinghetti San Francisco, January 2004

Table of Contents

	Preface	xv
	Introduction	xvii
	From Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada (1924)
	1. Cuerpo de mujer / Body of woman	2
	7. Inclinado en las tardes / Inclined in the afternoons	4
	15. Me gustas cuando callas / I like you when you're quiet	6
	20. Puedo escribir los versos mas tristes / I can write the saddest verses	8
	From Residencia en la tierra, I (1933)
	Galope muerto / Dead Gallop	12
	Unidad / Oneness	16
	Arte poetica / Ars Poetica	18
	Sistema sombrio / System of Gloom	20
	El fantasma del buque de carga / The Phantom of the Cargo Ship	22
	Significa sombras / It Means Shadows	28
	From Residencia en la tierra, II (1935)
	Solo la muerte / Only Death	32
	Barcarola / Barcarole	36
	Walking around / Walking Around	42
	Oda con un lamento / Ode With a Lament	46
	Entrada a la madera / Entrance Into Wood	50
	Vuelve el otono / Autumn Returns	54
	No hay olvido (sonata) / There's No Forgetting (Sonata)	58
	From Tercera residencia (1947)
	Explico algunas cosas / I Explain Some Things	62
	From Canto general (1950)
	Alturas de Macchu Picchu / The Heights of Macchu Picchu
I.	Del aire al aire / From air to air	68
IV.	La poderosa muerte / Powerful death	70
VI.	Entonces en la escala / And then on the ladder	74
VIII.	Sube conmigo / Climb up with me	78
X.	Piedra en la piedra / Stone upon stone	84
XI.	A traves del confuso esplendor / Down through the blurred splendor	88
XII.	Sube a nacer conmigo / Rise up and be born with me	90
	La United Fruit Co. / The United Fruit Co.	94
	El Fugitivo XII: A todos, a vosotros / To everyone, to you	98
	El gran oceano / The Great Ocean	102
	From Los versos del capitan (1952)
	El alfarero / The Potter	106
	From Odas elementales (1954)
	Oda a una castana en el suelo / Ode to a Chestnut On the Ground	108
	Oda al libro (II) / Ode to the Book (II)	114
	Oda a un reloj en la noche / Ode to a Watch In the Night	122
	Oda al vino / Ode to Wine	128
	From Estravagario (1958)
	Fabula de la sirena y los borrachos / The Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunkards	134
	El gran mantel / The Great Tablecloth	136
	From Cien sonetos de amor (1960)
XII.	Plena mujer, manzana carnal / Full woman, carnal apple	140
XVII.	No te amo como si fueras rosa / I don't love you as if you were a rose	142
	From Plenos poderes (1962)
	Deber del poeta / The Poet's Obligation	144
	La palabra / The word	148
	El mar / The Sea	154
	El pueblo / The People	156
	From Memorial de Isla Negra (1964)
	La poesia / Poetry	166
	Aquellas vidas / Those Lives	170
	Pleno octubre / October Fullness	174
	No hay pura luz / There Is No Clear Light	178
	Insomnio / Insomnia	182
	El futuro es espacio / The Future Is Space	184
	From El mar y las campanas (posthumous)
	Si, camarada, es hora de jardin / Right, comrade, it's the hour of the garden	188
	From Jardin de invierno (posthumous)
	El egoista / The Egoist	192
	Jardin de invierno / Winter Garden	196

What People are Saying About This

Gregory Rabassa

If the notion had struck Pablo Neruda, I am quite sure that like Fernando Pessoa and Antonio Machado he would have given birth to what the former called heteronyms. Like Pessoa especially, Neruda can be several poets according to where he is and when and what his mood might be. It is quite fitting therefore that his work in this anthology be shared by various translators, for, ideally, a translator is but another heteronym speaking in a different tongue and at a different time. Neruda is well served here by these other voices of his.

Ariel Dorfman

What better way to celebrate the hundred years of Neruda's glorious residence on our earth than this selection of crucial works - in both languages! - by one of the greatest poets of all time. A splendid way to begin a love affair with our Pablo or, having already succumbed to his infinite charms, revisit him passionately again and again and yet again.
—(Ariel Dorfman, author of Konfidenz and The Nanny and the Iceberg)

Editorial Reviews

"The call for a more accessible collection of Neruda's important poems is answered with City Lights' The Essential Neruda, a 200-page edition that offers 50 of Neruda's key poems. The editors and translators know how to extract gold from a lifetime of prolific writing. If you want a handy Neruda companion and don't know where to begin, this is it."—Bloomsbury Review

" ...The Essential Neruda will prove to be, for most readers, the best introduction to Neruda available in English. In fact, I can think of few other books that have given me so much delight so easily. At only 234 pages (bilingual), it somehow manages to convey the fullness of Neruda's poetic arc: Reading it is like reading the autobiography of a poetic sensibility (granted, the abridged version)."—Austin Chronicle

"This book is a must-have for any reader interested in a definitive sampling of the most essential poems by one whom many consider one of the best poets of the 20th century."—Tulsa World

"What better way to celebrate the hundred years of Neruda's glorious residence on our earth than this selection of crucial works - in both languages! - by one of the greatest poets of all time. A splendid way to begin a love affair with our Pablo or, having already succumbed to his infinite charms, revisit him passionately again and again and yet again."—Ariel Dorfman, author of Konfidenz and The Nanny and the Iceberg

"If the notion had struck Pablo Neruda, I am quite sure that like Fernando Pessoa and Antonio Machado he would have given birth to what the former called heteronyms. Like Pessoa especially, Neruda can be several poets according to where he is and when and what his mood might be. It is quite fitting therefore that his work in this anthology be shared by various translators, for, ideally, a translator is but another heteronym speaking in a different tongue and at a different time. Neruda is well served here by these other voices of his."—Gregory Rabassa

From the Publisher

"The call for a more accessible collection of Neruda's important poems is answered with City Lights' The Essential Neruda, a 200-page edition that offers 50 of Neruda's key poems. The editors and translators know how to extract gold from a lifetime of prolific writing. If you want a handy Neruda companion and don't know where to begin, this is it."

The Bloomsbury Review