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My book review for
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Veinte
Poemas de Amor y una Canción
Desesperada
Pablo Neruda
This book review is a contribution to the
Spanish Word-A-Day written by Christopher Champion from Oxford.
Pablo Neruda, a Chilean Poet, was writing
during the first half of the 20th Century. His oeuvre is vast
to say the least, but like many great writers he produced some of his
best work at the very beginning of his career.
Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada was published
in 1924 when Neruda was a budding poet of only
20 years old. It is a
wonderful collection of poems which really captures our imagination in
the way the verses flow, the dense and always challenging metaphors, and
the erotic portrayal of his love for the two women of his dreams. Neruda
appeals to our senses with a power unheard of previously, and that is
why he is such a successful poet, having sold millions of copies of this
collection alone.
The reason this book sprung to mind as a
recommendation for Spanish Word-A-Day is because I have recently watched
the classic film Il Postino, a
fantastic Italian film, which deals with the relationship between Pablo
Neruda and a young Italian who is his postman whilst he is in exile in
Italy. Neruda is enlisted to help this young man win over a local girl
and through this we get to hear some of Neruda’s poetry in the film,
albeit in Italian. I would highly recommend anyone to watch this film
(it is easily available with English subtitles), since not only is a
brilliant film, but also it can’t fail to inspire you to want to read
some more of Neruda’s poetry. The poems from the film are available in
parallel text (English and Spanish) from Amazon as is the film.
Neruda is certainly an interesting character and
his biography is definitely worth reading about. He spent many years
abroad, and was a very political poet. His communist ideals were not
concealed and so many took him on as a poet of “the cause”. I hope you
enjoy reading the Veinte Poemas de Amor y una
Canción Desesperada, but just in case you are not convinced
here is poem number 15 from the collection, one which is central to the
film of Il Postino and a personal
favourite. Having read such beautiful lines I challenge anyone not to
want to go out and buy the whole collection!
'Me
gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente,
y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca.
Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado
y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.
Como todas las cosas están llenas de mi alma
emerges de las cosas, llena del alma mía.
Mariposa de sueño, te pareces a mi alma,
y te pareces a la palabra melancolía;
Me gustas cuando callas y estás como distante.
Y estás como quejándote, mariposa en arrullo.
Y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te alcanza:
déjame que me calle con el silencio tuyo.
Déjame que te hable también con tu silencio
claro como una lámpara, simple como un anillo.
Eres como la noche, callada y constelada.
Tu silencio es de estrella, tan lejano y sencillo.
Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente.
Distante y dolorosa como si hubieras muerto.
Una palabra entonces, una sonrisa bastan.
Y estoy alegre, alegre de que no sea cierto.'
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if you click on any of the links and buy anything you want at Amazon.
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