From Publishers Weekly
This collection of poems, first published by Neruda at the age of 19 in 1924, caused something of a scandal because of its frank and intense sexuality: "I have gone marking the atlas of your body / with crosses of fire. / My mouth went across: a spider, trying to hide. / In you, behind you, timid, driven by thirst." It later became one of Neruda's best-loved works, selling two million copies by the 1960s. Why? With image after arresting image, Neruda charts the oceanic movements of passion, repeatedly summoning imagery of the sea and weather: "On all sides I see your waist of fog, / and your silence hunts down my afflicted hours; / my kisses anchor, and my moist desire nests / in you with your arms of transparent stone." As irresistible as the sea, love is engulfing ("You swallowed everything, like distance. / . . . In you everything sank!"), but also departs as mysteriously as it arrived, leaving the poet's heart a "pit of debris, fierce cave of the shipwrecked." These unabashedly romantic poems, wonderfully translated by Merwin, are illustrated in this edition by the paintings of Jan Thompson Dicks with aptly Fauvist tones and iconic formality. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
First published in 1924, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada remains among Pablo Neruda’s most popular work. Daringly metaphorical and sensuous, this collection juxtaposes youthful passion with the desolation of grief. Drawn from the poet’s most intimate and personal associations, the poems combine eroticism and the natural world with the influence of expressionism and the genius of a master poet. This edition features the newly corrected original Spanish text, with masterly English translations by award-winning poet W. S. Merwin on facing pages.
Language Notes
Text: English, Spanish (translation)
Original Language: Spanish
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Verse collection by Pablo Neruda, published in 1924 as Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada. The book immediately established the author's reputation and became one of the most widely read collections of poetry written in Spanish. The 20 love poems of the title poignantly describe remembered affairs with two women: a girl from the poet's native town of Temuco and a classmate at the University of Santiago. The collection begins with intensity, describing sensual passion that slackens into melancholy and detachment in the later verses. The closing poem, "A Song of Despair," hopelessly dwells upon bitter emotions.
About the Author
Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), the most renowned Latin American poet of his time, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. W. S. Merwin received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and his translations of classics such as The Poem of El Cid and The Song of Roland are standards. Cristina García is the author of Dreaming in Cuban, which was nominated for a National Book Award.
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair FROM THE PUBLISHER
Drawn from the most intimate and personal of associations. Pablo Neruda's most beloved collection of poetry juxtaposes the exuberance of youthful passion with the desolation of grief, the sensuality of the body with the metaphorical nuances of nature.
Interspersed with illustrations by Pablo Picasso, W. S. Merwin's masterly translation faces the original Spanish text. This edition also features a wonderful new Introduction by Cristina Garcia.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
This collection of poems, first published by Neruda at the age of 19 in 1924, caused something of a scandal because of its frank and intense sexuality:
``I have gone marking the atlas of your body / with crosses of fire. / My mouth went across: a spider, trying to hide. / In you, behind you, timid, driven by thirst.''
It later became one of Neruda's best-loved works, selling two million copies by the 1960s. Why? With image after arresting image, Neruda charts the oceanic movements of passion, repeatedly summoning imagery of the sea and weather:
``On all sides I see your waist of fog, / and your silence hunts down my afflicted hours; / my kisses anchor, and my moist desire nests / in you with your arms of transparent stone.''
As irresistible as the sea, love is engulfing
(``You swallowed everything, like distance. / . . . In you everything sank!''
, but also departs as mysteriously as it arrived, leaving the poet's heart a ``pit of debris, fierce cave of the shipwrecked.'' These unabashedly romantic poems, wonderfully translated by Merwin, are illustrated in this edition by the paintings of Jan Thompson Dicks with aptly Fauvist tones and iconic formality. (Dec.)
Art & Photography
Book Info
