Extravagaria

by Pablo Neruda

Published 15 June 1972
One of Pablo Neruda's own favorites among his books, Extravagaria marks an important stage in the progress of his poetry. It was written at the point in his life when he had returned to Chile after many wanderings and moved to Isla Negra on the Pacific coast. These writings celebrate this coming to rest, this rediscovery of the sea and the land, for in Extravagaria Neruda evolved a lyric poetry that is decidedly more personal than his earlier work. Written in what he called his "autumnal" period, the sixty-eight poems range from the wistful to the exultant, combining psalm and speculation, meditation and humorous aside.

100 Love Sonnets

by Pablo Neruda

Published 1 May 1986
Forty years after Pablo Neruda's death, this compilation of his sonnets, unlike previous translations, captures the true spirit and verbal dexterity of his lesser-known genre. Pablo Neruda is still one of the most widely read, influential and beloved 20th-century poets. He was a Nobel Laureate, famous for his politically engaged lyrics, who also wrote these bold and sensual sonnets.

In this new edition, the poems are followed by three essays on reading Neruda and his poetic effect by the notable poets and translators A. F. Moritz, Beatriz Hausner, and Toronto's Poet Laureate (2012-2015) George Elliott Clarke, as well as a new afterword by the translator, questions for discussion, and recommended readings.

The Art of Birds

by Pablo Neruda and Jack Schmitt

Published 31 December 1985

One Hundred Love Sonnets

by Pablo Neruda

Published 1 January 1986
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 love: 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.
This bilingual edition of "One Hundred Love Sonnets" reproduces the text of the 1959 Spanish original en face with Stephen Tapscott's graceful English translation. Associate professor of literature at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tapscott is a widely published poet who brings to this work the sensitivity of the creative artist as well as the skills of the accomplished translator.