Pablo Neruda

Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics)

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

soochie

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses. Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes. 

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long. 

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

“I remembered you with my soul clenched in that sadness of mine that you know. Where were you then? Who else was there? Saying what? Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly when I am sad and feel you are far away?”

one thing I love about Neruda is he’s gifted for making unexpected connections between things. he’ll describe a person, a feeling, or a memory in a way that surprises you, but it makes perfect emotional sense. his metaphors aren’t just creative, they feel raw and real, which I think is why they hit so hard.

one of the first things that struck me about this collection is how deeply Neruda captures the feeling of yearning. it’s like the human longing to connect, to be seen, and to express emotions that often don’t have a clear name.

this is my second time reading this book, the English one and this time is the one that translated into Bahasa Indonesia by M. Aan Mansyur. my favorite Indonesian poet! ^_^ he adapts Neruda’s metaphors into images that resonate with Indonesian readers, while still maintaining the original weight of Neruda’s words, make them still emotionally raw but thoughtfully written. “Di dirimu juga sungai menyanyi dan jiwaku mengalir menuruti kehendakmu, dan hanyut ke mana kau mau. Tujuan hidupku berasa di lengkung busur hadapanmu dan tanpa kendali kulepaskan kawanan anak panahku.” (III, Ah Vastness of Pines).

and here are my favorite poems from this collection:

Cahaya

one thing I love about Neruda is he’s gifted for making unexpected connections between things. he’ll describe a person, a feeling, or a memory in a way that surprises you, but it makes perfect emotional sense. his metaphors aren’t just creative, they feel raw and real, which I think is why they hit so hard.

one of the first things that struck me about this collection is how deeply Neruda captures the feeling of yearning. it’s like the human longing to connect, to be seen, and to express emotions that often don’t have a clear name.

this is my second time reading this book, the English one and this time is the one that translated into Bahasa Indonesia by M. Aan Mansyur. my favorite Indonesian poet! ^_^ he adapts Neruda’s metaphors into images that resonate with Indonesian readers, while still maintaining the original weight of Neruda’s words, make them still emotionally raw but thoughtfully written. “Di dirimu juga sungai menyanyi dan jiwaku mengalir menuruti kehendakmu, dan hanyut ke mana kau mau. Tujuan hidupku berasa di lengkung busur hadapanmu dan tanpa kendali kulepaskan kawanan anak panahku.” (III, Ah Vastness of Pines).

and here are my favorite poems from this collection:

1. XVIII. Here I Love You

2. III. Ah, Vastness of Pines

3. VI. I Remember You As You Were

4. XVI. In My Sky At Twilight

Deepika Ramesh

This's my 4th book for #24in48readathon, and my first Pablo Neruda, although I have read quite a few poems of Neruda. I didn't enjoy most of the poems except 'Tonight I Can Write'. That was riveting. But, my love for Neruda hasn't changed. I still look forward to reading 'Odes to Common Things'.

Isabella Castañeda R.

A pesar de lo bello de algunos poemas y del reconocerle a Neruda su habilidad para escribir este libro con tan solo veinte años, me ha dejado con un sinsabor —esta es una observación meramente subjetiva—. No comparto la manera en la que idealiza el amor romántico dentro de esta obra. Siento que el realismo que me hubiese gustado leer en los versos, me impidió disfrutar a cabalidad el poemario, hasta el punto en el que tuve que pausar la lectura casi por un año, para luego retomarla.

Faith Ho 

i get why neruda is so acclaimed i love his poetry. yes this is basically a collection of his poetry simping over a woman but it’s also so so so beautiful, and he really evokes that feeling of yearning; painting an image of her (love and exaltation of his love) but also probing at it (”who are you, who are you”, “your presence is foreign, as strange to me as a thing”); uncovering the ideas of distance, longing and solitude (”why will the whole of love come on me suddenly when i am sad and feel you are far away?”) (and Not like astrophil sorry sidney... tho that’s probably cos this is more contemporary). 

the vibes are truly immaculate (best time to read: alone, slipping into night, rain). to me, his poetry’s most striking feature is his use of metaphor: he can create the most beautiful and unexpected links between ideas (“sometimes i get up early and my soul is wet”). even the eroticism seems almost spiritual (drunk with pines: “my garment of kisses trembles [...] quick and slow, in the energy under the sky”) use of repetition is highly effective, particularly in create a crescendo effect, as is the exclamations he uses; his poetry is dynamic, evocative, dramatic. he skews towards natural imagery in his poetry, to great poetic and romantic (haha) impression. even in translated english his poetry flows beautifully; i tried reading the spanish out loud just for the lols and the fact that i felt so touched by words i didn’t even understand speaks for itself. 

borrowed this frm the library and the cover is quite sus looking so i only read it at home but it made the vibes better. almost never say this but these are poems i probably will revisit at another point in my life (maybe when i fall in love or get my heart broken?? who knows)

favourite poems (tho tbh every one is good these are jst personal favourites): 
- the light wraps you
- so that you will hear me
- i remember you as you were: “dry autumn leaves revolved in your soul”
- we have lost even
- almost out of the sky: “cloudless girl”
- i hv gone marking: jst thinking of great gatsby from “i who lived in a harbour from which i loved you. / the solitude crossed with dream and with silence”.
- thinking, tangling shadows: “fire in the forest! burn in blue crosses. / burn, burn, flame up, sparkle in trees of light. / it collapses, crackling. fire. fire. / and my soul dances, seared with curls of fire. [...] thinking, burying lamps in the deep solitude. / who are you, who are you?”
- here i love you
- tonight i can write: “tonight i can write the saddest lines” “i no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe i love her”

and of course, a song of despair

Sin embargo, 'veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada' es una obra de gran envergadura literaria, el remanente de la herencia modernista fue aliado en ella por Neruda de a los hallazgos expresivos de la nueva vanguardia en una serie de piezas de conmovida intensidad lírica, cuyo acento de plenitud vital, exaltacién genésica y erotismo panteísta cede el paso, en la hora de los duelos y las separaciones, a un tono de melancolía que le hermana a la herencia romántica.

Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada ; Cien sonetos de amor

Arturo Hernández

“Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche...
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso...
Nosotros, los de entonces, ya no somos los mismos...
De otro. Será de otro. Como antes de mis besos...
Su voz, su cuerpo claro, sus ojos infinitos...
Aunque este sea el último dolor que me causa...
Y estos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo”

- XX, Pablo Neruda

High Fidelity

Poezija mi nije jača strana,ali ima neke istine u ovome. Dirljivo na svoj način.

Nada Ghanim

التشبيهات جيده لكن أعتقد المشكلة فى الترجمة

اه دعيني أتذكر كيف كنت آنذاك ، عندما لم تكونى بعد قد وجدت

هكذا كان مصيرى و فيه سافر اشتياقى، و فيه سقط اشتياقى، فيك غرق كل شيء! اه يا مثوى الحطام، فيكى سقط كل شيء

Vivian

"I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. Love is so short, and oblivion so long."

Shameera Nair Lin

3.5 stars. Most of the beauty appears to have been lost in translation. I fail to understand the appeal of this particular text, but Neruda is gifted to the core. I'd give this another try in the near future.

Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada

Alexia

Solamente me gustan Para mi corazón..., Me gustas cuando callas... y Puedo escribir los versos...

Noor 

Simona

Teodora Živulović

Kris 

This Nobel Prize-winning book, first published in 1924, is one of Neruda's most popular works. By using metaphors found in nature, he celebrates love and achieves harmony. Grief and sadness are brought to life so beautifully that his work remains unparalleled to this day.

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics)

Reviews

Highlights