Book Review : Twenty Love Poems and A Song Of Despair

Book Title : Twenty Love Poems and A Song Of Despair

Author : Pablo Neruda [W.S. Merwin (Translator)]

ISBN : 9780224074415

Publisher : Jonathan Cape (Penguin Random House)

Genre : Poetry

Publication : 2004

Pages : 65

Binding : Paperback

About The Book:

The Chilean Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was probably the greatest and certainly the most prolific of twentieth-century Latin American poets. He brought out his first collection at the age of seventeen, and quickly developed an assured and distinctive poetic voice. His third book, Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Cancion Desesperada - Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair- was published in 1924 and attracted international acclaim. It remains one of the most celebrated and admired books of erotic poetry published in the last hundred years, with over a million copies sold worldwide. Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971.

Rating: 3.5 ☆'s

Review:

I first came around the name Pablo Neruda, when I was in school, nearly a decade and a half ago - When I was researching for my school project. What drew me to him was the fact that he was born on 12th July, which happens to be my date of birth too - and I felt instantly drawn towards the author without even knowing much about him or having read any of his works.

In fact, I didn't get into poetry for a long time - I believed, to be truly an admirer of poetry, you have to be mature enough to understand it - to understand on my own, the subtle underlying emotions, and thoughts and perceptions of the poet.

And thus, this was the first time, when I finally picked up a book by Pablo Neruda - and the book is exactly what the title says - a compilation of twenty love poems and one song of despair.

The poems are sensual, erotic, full of love and some longing. There is so much love in those verses that at times it saddens you. How the author has used elements of nature, his surroundings to sing songs in praise of his love, is very beautiful.

Reading the poems, I was silenced, so as the surroundings were - it was as if I was transported to a different place altogether and only thing I could hear were the words recited , so plainly, and so full of love, that nothing else mattered. It was a beautiful experience altogether.

Of course, I had to read some of them multiple times - to understand them better, but that's the thing about poetry - you have to read it multiple times and you will figure out something new each time - and you have to continue doing so, till there is nothing left to understand.

The XX Love Poem - Tonight I Can Write, was my favorite among all and I had tears at the end of my read - 

... Tonight I can write the saddest lines. 

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. ...

But, and yes there is a but - the book was originally written in Spanish and Mr. Merwin did a beautiful job at translating it. Despite that, some of the poems seemed to have lost their magic, as if the words are just put their without rhyme or reason.

I don't know Spanish, so I cannot compare the original text to the translated one, but then, that's a personal observation. I feel with poetry, translation can either add a beautiful new meaning to it and take it up by many notches or make a poem a bit duller by taking away from it, a certain charm. Like I said, its my personal view but from other reviews I have gathered, that's not the case and everyone has simply loved all the poems.

But will I pick the book up again, of course I would - for I am sure, there is so much more, yet to be understood and explored within those verses, within those lines...

Happy Reading!