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100 Love Sonnets/Cien sonetos de amor

pablo neruda stephen tapscott

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Against the backdrop of Isla Negra — the sea and wind, the white sand with its scattering of delicate wild flowers, the hot sun and salty smells of the Pacific — Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda sets these joyfully sensual poems in celebration of his love. The subject of that Matilde Urrutia de Neruda, the poet's "beloved wife." As popular in the Hispanic world as the poet's renowned Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, One Hundred Love Sonnets has never before been published in its entirety in English translation. The reason for this astonishing neglect may lie in the historical circumstances that surrounded Neruda's "discovery " by English-speaking readers. In the United States he came to popularity during the turmoil of the sixties, when Americans needed a politically committed poet, and much of Neruda's canon answered that need. But, in his native Chile and throughout Latin America, Neruda has always been cherished as dearly for the earthly sensuality and eroticism of his love poetry as for his statements of political belief. To know this work, then is to understand the poet's art more thoroughly.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1959

This edition

Format
232 pages, Hardcover
Published
May 1, 1986 by University of Texas Press
ISBN
9780292760295
ASIN
0292760299
Language
English

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About the author

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pablo neruda

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Pablo Neruda, born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto in 1904 in Parral, Chile, was a poet, diplomat, and politician, widely considered one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. From an early age, he showed a deep passion for poetry, publishing his first works as a teenager. He adopted the pen name Pablo Neruda to avoid disapproval from his father, who discouraged his literary ambitions. His breakthrough came with Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, 1924), a collection of deeply emotional and sensual poetry that gained international recognition and remains one of his most celebrated works.
Neruda's career took him beyond literature into diplomacy, a path that allowed him to travel extensively and engage with political movements around the world. Beginning in 1927, he served in various consular posts in Asia and later in Spain, where he witnessed the Spanish Civil War and became an outspoken advocate for the Republican cause. His experiences led him to embrace communism, a commitment that would shape much of his later poetry and political activism. His collection España en el corazón (Spain in Our Hearts, 1937) reflected his deep sorrow over the war and marked a shift toward politically engaged writing.
Returning to Chile, he was elected to the Senate in 1945 as a member of the Communist Party. However, his vocal opposition to the repressive policies of President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla led to his exile. During this period, he traveled through various countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, further cementing his status as a global literary and political figure. It was during these years that he wrote Canto General (1950), an epic work chronicling Latin American history and the struggles of its people.
Neruda's return to Chile in 1952 marked a new phase in his life, balancing political activity with a prolific literary output. He remained a staunch supporter of socialist ideals and later developed a close relationship with Salvador Allende, who appointed him as Chile's ambassador to France in 1970. The following year, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognized for the scope and impact of his poetry. His later years were marked by illness, and he died in 1973, just days after the military coup that overthrew Allende. His legacy endures, not only in his vast body of work but also in his influence on literature, political thought, and the cultural identity of Latin America.

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
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Zeryphalix
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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نيرودا من علوّ الحب يكتب لماتيلدا مائة سوناتة حب .
ما قرأته ليس محدوداً بعمر معين و متى كان الحب كذلك ؟ هناك قصائد للصباح للظهر للمساء و الليل و تتفاوت المعاني و الالتقاطات اليائسة حيناً و الغارقة في الحب أحياناً فهاهو يخالف العشاق قائلا : " أما أنا فلا أريد سوى أن أكون مزيّن شعرك " و هاهو يشكو " حين رفعنا الحب فوق موجة هائلة و حطمنا فوق الصخور فقد جعل منّا طحيناً متفردا " و هاهو يتحدث عن الغياب و يصفه بالمنزل الفضفاض " يمكنك السير فيه عبر الجدران و تعليق الصور على الهواء " و هاهو يناقض نفسه المغرمة - كحال المغرمين دائماً - حين يجمع أمنياته الواحدة تلو الأخرى لماتيلدا " ليت حتى الحب لا يعكر صفو ربيعك الدائم " آه كم هو جميل هذا النيرودا .
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DeveloperCandy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I feel so guilty giving four stars to this classic because it’s probably the effect of poor translation, but it didn’t feel like a five star book. There are absolutely fascinating sonnets, no doubt about that but not majority of them.

Adnan Özer’in çevirisini okumamanızı tavsiye ediyorum, çok kuru ve zorlama olmuş. Hatta mümkünse direk İngilizce okuyun çünkü çeviri kalitesi farkı çok belirgin. Ancak tüm dikkati vererek, farklı kombinasyonlarla okunduğunda zevk alınıyor.
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TheKickAssGeek
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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شاعرية تمس القلب المرهف، سُعدت لاختيار قرائتها في الخريف.
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RWFC
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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n  listen... a hundred is a lot.n
༄⋆
note: as i usually do whenever i complete a read that took me a while, i did a tiny bit on research on neruda because i assumed that the portrait painted by every-spanish-teacher-who's-ever-taught-highschoolers of this man was slightly restrictive. i know i should separate the art from the artist since "blablah picasso made masterpieces even though he was the most disgusting man who ever walked this earth" but the fact that neruda wrote a poem about his experience r*ping a woman is something to consider. i'm glad i knew that after i got throught 100 poems on the beauty of love. nonetheless i can't pretend this information didn't taint my vision of this poetry collection, hence the three-stars-rating. please forgive me.
༄⋆
so. i'm obviously unmarried. i've never even been in love.... i couldn't relate to any of these poems. howEVER i guess pablo neruda's talent shows in the way his words made me feel.
i've always been exceptionally bad at describing or critiquing poetry and i doubt this will change today. so HERE'S MY FAVOURITE POEM HEEHEEH ENJOY (and yes it's in spanish because i am incredibly pretentious).

n°59
pobres poetas a quienes la vida y la muerte
persiguieron con la misma tenacidad sombría
y luego son cubiertos por impasible pompa,
entregados al rito y al diente funerario.

ellos -- oscuros como piedrecitas--, ahora
detrás de los caballos arrogantes, tendidos
van, gobernados al fin por los intrusos,
entre los edecanes, a dormir sin silencio.

antes y ya seguros de que está muerto el muerto
hacen de las exequias un festín miserable
con pavos, puercos y otros oradores.

acecharon su muerte y entones la ofendieron :
sólo porque su boca está cerrada
y ya no puede contestar su canto.
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Ashen_Estus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This collection is mesmerising. I feel I need to read it again and again to absorb all the nuances of each sonnet. Favourite few lines:
"You and I, Love, together we ratify the silence,
while the sea destroys its perpetual statues,
collapses its towers of wild speed and whiteness:

because in the weavings of those invisible fabrics,
galloping water, incessant sand,
we make the only permanent tenderness."

This is from the Nineth Sonnet. Favourite Sonnet the 90th.
Absolutely wonderful!
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Yakiniku
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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در توصیفش همین بس که ظریف و عاشقانه بود

«ای عزیزترینم!
ما مگر چه میخواستیم که حقمان نبود؟
تنها عشق
تا که دوست بداریم یکدیگر را
۰۰»

«عشق من !
تو را دوست میدارم به خاطر هر آنچه داری
و نداری»

«ما
من، تو و عشق
از لطافت
ابدیتی خواهیم ساخت
جایی که امواج
بر صخره های بیقرار میشکنند.»
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splashlattae
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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It is very difficult to review a poetry collection. Neruda is undoubtedly a genious. This book contained diamonds of conception, yet the poets' occasional verbalisms and repetitive descriptions of the same subject - or should I say the same person - became tiring at times. My favourite sonnets were by far number 44 and 89.
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MainReaper6666
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Vale a pena ler e sonhar que tais sentimentos um dia possam ser também sentidos por nós, já que escrevê-los não é possível com tamanha paixão e doçura.


"No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio
o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:
te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.

Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva
dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,
y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo
el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra.

Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,

sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño."
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