Product Description

This collection of Neruda's most essential poems will prove 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 Haas, Jim Harrison, 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.

Pablo Neruda was born in Chile in 1904. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Customer Reviews (26)

The Essential Neruda
Being a fan of Pablo Neruda's poetry, I wanted to get my hands on The Essential Neruda to take a look at more of his work. After reading Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, I fell in love with the poet.

The Essential Neruda contains 50 of Neruda's poems, not all of them about love.
I enjoyed this collection, a few of my favorites are in here, such as I Can Write the Saddest Lines, Leaning into the Afternoons and I Like For You To Be Still.
I did find the translation to be slightly different from the poems in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, due to the different translators. I love reading Neruda's work in Spanish, it is painfully beautiful.
There is definitely something lost in translation, the feel of the work is a bit different when read in English. The words flow better in it's original Spanish text. I'm a sucker for sad poetry about love and heartache.

Though Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair remains my favorite collection of Neruda's poetry, I'm glad I read The Essential Neruda. I got to experience more of the poets work.
How can you not love Neruda's way with words?

Body of my woman, I will persist in your grace.
My thirst, my infinite anguish, my indecisive path!
Dark riverbeds where eternal thirst follows,
and fatigue follows, and infinite sorrow.
-excerpt from Body of woman


There is also a poem in this collection called Ode With A Lament, that he wrote while his daughter was gravely ill. This one brought a tear to my eye.

Only with kisses and red poppies can I love you,
with rain-soaked wreaths
contemplating ashen horses and yellow dogs.
Only with waves at my back can I love you...


There's so much beautiful and moving poetry in this collection, highly recommended.

Essential!
Yes, this is the Essential Neruda.It's not complete, but it covers all of his topics and contains some wonderful gems and insight.If you only buy one Neruda volume, make it this one.

Pablo Neruda Book 1
I gave this product as a gift...the person that received it enjoyed it very much..a unique publishing of Neruda's works.

Excellent Translations, Great Aid For Learning A Different Side Of Spanish Outside The Confines Of A Boring Textbook
I highly recommend this edition! It's wonderful to go back and forth, line to line, reading the English translations first, then the original Spanish.Translations are fluid!A fantastic way to introduce yourself to one of the greatest poets of all time!

Splendid poetry!!

This book is an awesome work with splendid poems that have something to say to everyone.

Side-by-side texts with their translations are great in making the reader evaluate the meanings and nuances in both languages.

I love these verses:

"And the air came in with orange-blossom fingers
over all those asleep:
a thousand years of air, months, weeks of air,
of blue wind, of iron cordillera,
that were like soft hurricanes of footsteps
polishing the lonely boundary of the stone."

The imagery is vivid and thrilling, like in these verses:

"Full woman, carnal apple, hot moon,
thick smell of seaweed, crushed mud and light,
what obscure clarity opens between your columns?
What ancient night does man touch with his senses?"

I can recommend this poetry to anyone.

Joyce Akesson, author of Love's Thrilling Dimensions and The Invitation ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on March 22, 1994. The length of the article is 588 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Mouth to Mouth: Poems by Twelve Contemporary Mexican Women.
Author: Kay Pritchett
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1994
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: v68Issue: n2Page: p348(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more