|
Pablo Neruda[pA´blO nArOO´thA] Pronunciation Key, 1904–73, Chilean poet, diplomat, and Communist leader, whose original name was NeftalI Ricardo Reyes Basualto. Neruda's highly personal poetry brought him enormous acclaim. After 1927 he was in consular service in East Asia, Argentina, Mexico, and Europe. A surrealist, Neruda revitalized everyday expressions and employed bold metaphors in free verse. His evocative poems are filled with grief and despair and bespeak a quest for simplicity. They proclaim the dramatic Chilean landscape and rage against the exploitation of the indigenous people. In his writings and during his political career as a Chilean Communist party leader and diplomat, Neruda has exerted wide influence in Latin America. His many volumes of poetry include Crepusculario [twilight book] (1919), Twenty Love Poems and One Song of Despair (1924, tr. 1969), the surrealistic Residence on Earth and Other Poems (1933, tr. 1946), Canto general (1950), Elementary Odes (1954, tr. 1961), Nuevas odas elementales (1955), A New Decade: 1958–1967 (tr. 1969), Extravagaria (1958, tr. 1974), New Poems: 1968–1970 (tr. 1972), and Toward the Splendid City (tr. 1974). Neruda was awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature during his service as Chilean ambassador to France. Neruda died in Chile during the week of the 1973 military coup.
See his Early Poems (tr. 1969) and Selected Poems (tr. 1970); P. Neruda, N. Parra, and M. Gottlieb, Pablo Neruda and Nicanor Parra Face to Face (1997).
|
