A couple of weeks ago I came across this cute little book, “Love
Poems” by Pablo Neruda and I couldn’t resist buying it. Small, attractive, inexpensive
and… intriguing!
These “Love Poems” are so beautiful, they make the perfect gift,
either for a lover or yourself.
Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973) was a Nobel prize winning author from
Chile, who died before I was even born… His real name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes
Basoalto, but he became famous under his self-chosen pseudonym.
Between 1927 and 1943 he was a diplomat, the reason for which he
traveled and lived all over the world. The majority of the poems in this
collection were written in my (and probably his) beloved Italy, on the island of Capri!
Ah what Italy can do…
The poems are very romantic, but never cheesy (even though the way
we communicate nowadays has changed immensely)!
Juan Luis Guerra used two of Neruda’s phrases from the book “Libro
de las preguntas” in his world famous
song “Bachata Rosa”. So without knowing
it, young people all over the world dance the bachata to Neruda’s words, funny don’t you think?
To give you an idea what the “Love Poems” are like… I’ll quote some
phrases of “El viento en la isla”.
El viento es un caballo:
óyelo cómo corre
por el mar, por el cielo.
Quiere llevarme: escucha
cómo recorre el mundo
para llevarme lejos.
Escóndeme en tus brazos
por esta noche sola,
mientras la lluvia rompe
contra el mar y la tierra
su boca innumerable.
῀
The wind is a horse:
Hear how he runs
through the sea, through the sky.
He wants to take me: listen
how he roves the world
to take me far away.
Hide me in your arms
just for this night,
while the rain breaks
against sea and earth
its innumerable mouth.
