Love Poems

I bought this book because I'm learning Spanish (or trying to), and the dual language feature is very appealing. I do recommend it highly as a language study aid. The poems are not hard to follow, and the flow of language is exquisitely beautiful, a real incentive to learn Spanish! I have my tutor recite these poems to give me a sense of the cadence of the language. This is my first experience of Pablo Neruda, and I'm an instant fan. Normally my taste runs more to prose than to poetry. But I love the quirky quality of the poet's mind. He writes a poem to his lover's feet, for example. Everything he writes is unexpected. There are none of the usual love cliches, no gushing. Neruda's emotions are wonderfully idiosyncratic, somehow unsentimental and quite exhilarating. Some of the poems are short and very accessible. Others are longer, bordering on surreal, full of bizarre imagery. All are as passionate as you'd expect from a Latin lover. The translation seems excellent to me, in both word choice and feeling very close to the original.

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda illustrates love as something real, as opposed to the overly done, cheesy love poems that we are so familiar with. Despite not being a huge fan of romance novels and movies, I sincerely liked this book and would recommend it to couples, hopeless romantics, and just about anyone looking for a good book. Throughout the book he uses beautiful imagery and figurative language to create a relationship that is fairly realistic. Throughout his work, Neruda helps the reader visualize his world with his use of imagery. He always goes back to nature to describe where he is in that moment. In “The Stolen Branch” he does not blatantly say that he jumped a gate and stole some apples. Instead he uses “We shall climb over the wall in the darkness of the private garden, two shadows in the shadow. Winter is not yet gone, and the apple tree appears”. Neruda also describes the way he sees the woman that he loves. In one of my favorite poems, “The Queen”, he describes her regally with a crystal crown and a red gold carpet that she treads underneath her feet. He also illustrates how she makes him feel but that is another literary device entirely. Another literary device Neruda uses to illustrate his love and the woman is figurative language. Going back to “The Queen”, when he sees the woman he loves “all the rivers sound… bells shake the sky, and a hymn fills the world.” If all that was really happening the world would be quite terrifying. In the continuing lines he says that the song is only for them. I think what Neruda means is their love is just meant for the two of them, and she is his world. A great example of figurative language is the way he describes her laugh. “The rose, the lanceflower that you pluck, the water that suddenly bursts forth in your joy, the sudden wave of silver born in you.” Her laugh is beautiful, contagious, and joyful. It made him smile even in his worst times and gave him life. It’s the little things that bring us joy. I have never been a big fan of the romance genre. It is too cheesy and gives unrealistic expectations of love. Love is so much more than what is on the surface. Most love poems are written at the beginning of the relationship, towards the end of the poet’s life when they have already been through the rough patches of a relationship and have accepted each other’s flaws, or when they break up. Neruda writes during the point of the relationship where they are still figuring each other out. In “Forgetting You” he writes that if she moves on to not bother looking for him because he is already long gone, but if she believes that they are meant to be together that he will always be there for her and love her to the end. I particularly liked this book because Neruda differs so much from classic European love poems. While he still uses beautiful imagery and figurative language to tell of his love for this woman, he stills keeps it in a fairly realistic point of view.

I guess I should had read the description. It is a very small book lol. However, this was bought for my daughter for a valentines gift. This is her favorite poet. She had mentioned that she had read this somewhere before and loved it.

this is a tiny book. not the best quality but the cover is very pretty, of course. i like that the poems are in both spanish and english. i would buy this again in a better quality version.

I bought this amazing book for my girlfriend for Valentine's. She absolutely loved it, and has told me more than once that I couldn't have picked a better gift for V-day :) We are both pretty romantic and love going the extra mile for each other, and this book, although it's just about $10, has some of the most classic love poems. And well, what do I say about Pablo Neruda. We both love his work, and this short collection of his love poems made us both very happy. The book was shipped in good condition, and was delivered on time. No complaints there.

Saw it in a book store and feel in love with it but didn't like the price too much so waited to order on Amazon. Beautiful poetry especially if you are a fan of Pablo Neruda like me. Because of its small size and light weight it's easy to carry around. You can just randomly open any page and enjoy. Makes a lovely gift for a poetry lovers.

Very nice little book, which I’m enjoying. It’s small and lightweight, so it’s not difficult to hold. I’ve loved Neruda’s poetry for years. If you’ve never read his work, give it a try. This is an inexpensive book ... would make a lovely little Christmas gift.

Reading this was enough to get a sense of the weary, triumphant spirit that is so alive in Neruda’s work. But the translation is clunky, far too literal, and an obstacle to connecting with the passion that is so clearly at the heart of the poetry. It is so bad that at times it even became impossible to follow the ideas of the poem. Very disappointing, since I’ve read good translations of a few Neruda poems that I loved, which is why I bought this book.

Love this! This is just so skillfully and beautifully written from the soul and heart. I highly recommend it!

One of the best

I have only recently discovered Neruda but he is a treasure! His poetry transcends beauty and speaks of love almost immeasurable....perfect. I defy anyone to not be moved by this work. This volume is bilingual, with the Spanish text on the left of each page and the English translation opposite. It's also a small volume, perfect for carrying in a handbag, in order to experience romantic interludes during a busy day, on public transport! Can you tell that I love it?!

Wish I could write like him.....

Es un libro pequeñito, ideal para llevar a cualquier lugar. Tienes los poemas en inglés y en español, lo cual es perfecto para leerlo en los dos idiomas y ver como han traducido los poemas al inglés ( muy bien). Es un libro que merece la pena tener ya que siempre puedes releer y nunca pasa de moda.