By Pablo Neruda - Love Poems (Bilingual)

by Pablo Neruda

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning.

[Ariana Aray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I am usually not super into poetry books, but I deeply enjoyed this one. I loved how the original Spanish was on one side and the translated English was on the other. As a bilingual speaker and reader myself, I thought it was interesting and enjoyable to dissect and annotate both versions, and see the differences in both. There were certain lines I would translate differently, and some that definitely resonated with me more in the original Spanish version. Overall, beautifully written and translated.

[Shan Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love. Me. Like. This. Or. Go. Away.

- Management

[L.M.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love as all-encompassing, something transcends the physical form and our own fragile mortality/impermanence. An escape from these things perhaps, but also sometimes the realest part of life. I liked having the Spanish and English translation side by side and reading both, liking some of the lines in Spanish better and some in English.

"Y cuando asomas / suenan todos los ríos / en mi cuerpo, sacuden / el cielo las campanas / y un himno llena el mundo.
/ Sólo tú y yo, / sólo tú y yo, amor mío, / lo escuchamos."

"And when you appear / all the rivers sound/ in my body, bells / shake the sky, / and a hymn fills the world.
/ Only you and I, / only you and I, my love, / listen to it."

<3

[Mi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifted to me by my first love alongside a red rose on San Jordi; processed our breakup meditating on Poema 20

Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido.
Porque en noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos,
mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.
Aunque éste sea el último dolor que ella me causa,
y estos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo.

[Iliana Yanes · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHERE was my favorite, Tonight I Can Write. An egregious omission

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un poco llena con flores pero una copia hermosa.

[Carly McQueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG swoon

[Martina · Rating 2 out of 5]

men will never be able to comprehend and talk about love
this was a big bag of cheap stale bilingual sweets

[Sarai]

💝

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

worth reading with many beautiful poems, but several come off as too wordy and hard to understand for me.

[amber levis]

"absence" especially... CHILLS

[Sarah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book. This was given to me as a wedding shower gift and it couldn't be more perfect. I appreciated having the Spanish side-by-side, seeing the poetry as Neduda intended for it to be.

[Priyanka Kedia · Rating 4 out of 5]

read in the cellar of Shakespeare & Co in Paris. Was having trouble feeling the poems — but then got to Odes and Burgeonings. Stayed with me

[Halle · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 will read again
and again and again

[Marina Shankle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous and Song of Solomon-esque

[Abigail Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Passionate collection of Pablo’s love poems.