Can't finish this. It is hard to ignore the misogyny and extreme objectification after one point.

Beautiful.

Incredible beauty in these poems. And what a powerful trip, to be transported into Neruda's wild, naturalistic imagination. No technology, only biology and raw nature.

Romance overload . Im pretty sure i cried some poems . Great read if you want to have your emotions go on a rollercoaster.

This collection spans across his career from the years 1925-1959. While I expected more of the same "love poems" that I had read before, I was surprised to find a wide range of themes. His poems range from politics and political violence to meditations of the nature of art or mortality to odes to everyday objects such as an artichoke or lemon . The most consistent element of his style is the rich and infinitely creative ways in which he describes nature and ties it into his subjective experience of reality. The smell of burning wood or the texture of ocean spray for example are rendered with stunning clarity and beauty. Almost every poem had at least one line which would floor me with its sheer brilliance and make me wish I had thought of it. Reading both the Spanish and English versions was a great joy and the translator did a very impressive job at what I can imagine is a near impossible task. However, many of the poems were a bit too cryptic and mystifying for me to fully appreciate or visualize them beyond the superficial beauty of the language.

Neruda is an incredible wordsmith (and the translations of his poems are wildly impressive and smart), which meant reading this collection of poems was a treat. His brand of poetry still isn’t my favorite, but I love the way he uses words and images to be political, lovely, and emotional—sometimes all at the same time. Very happy I read this.

I enjoyed being able to read the poems in Spanish, and in English, and then compare the specific language of the Spanish version with the English version translated. Such elegance and eye-opening. Some effected me more than others, as with most poetry collections, but the composition and symbolism of Neruda is compelling; he writes with such a carefree elegance.

Pablo Neruda is my favorite poet. I enjoy his work very much and would recommend it to all.

I picked this book from 'tiny library' (where you can leave books you don't want to read and somebody else can pick it up for free).

I only heard about him and his poetry so I course I adopted this book.
His poetry is beautiful, painful, gentle AND HORNY. I was so glad I read it in language my surroundings doesn't speak - aka my public transport co-travelers. Because lemme tell you, even I was blushing.
Do I recommande to read his poetry - YES. Just, it is often very 'nsfw'.

More excited to leave in two weeks to learn more about this mind. The last poem on Vietnam was heart-wrenching, contrasting a beautiful picture of innocence with the depravity of the genocide in 1967. No wonder most Chilean artists found a symbol of hope in Neruda.

I think the book suffers for having the original Spanish side by side with the translations: the English versions aren’t all bad per se, but it’s clear sometimes that the translator was trying to improve on the existing work, and often failing. Still, I love the poems and will be trying to find a translation I like better. I definitely don’t regret picking up the book.

Dream horse

I walk between origins, beneficent documents,
chopfallen, dressed like a natural: I want
the spent honey of deference,
the sweets of the catechist under whose leaves
drained violets drowse and grow old;
and those bustling abettors, the brooms, in whose image,
assuredly, sorrow and certainty join.
I plunder the whistle of roses, the thieving anxiety:
I smash the attractive extremes-worst of all,
I await a symmetrical time beyond measure:
the taste of my spirit disheartens me.