___________________interactive
art space |
contents | here
| there | everywhere
Pablo
Neruda (1904
- 1973) Born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Chilean
poet who celebrated life as a sensuous residence on earth. He wrote striking
odes to his socks, laziness, cats. He composed over a hundred love sonnets.
He also explained a few things about the horrors of the Spanish civil war that
Franco had unleashed.
Neruda fought
for civil justice. He had the pleasure to see his friend Salvador Allende become
become president of Chile, only to witness two weeks before his death the ghost
of Franco shatter his once democratic homeland. But 25 years later, his spirit
blesses Chile again.
Neruda celebrated
the interactive side of life where the individual blooms in relation to others.
His favorite interaction was love. For example:
Pudimos no encontrarnos en el tiempo.
Esta pradera en que nos encontramos,
oh pequeño infinito! devolvemos.
Pero este amor, amor, no ha terminado,
y así como no tuvo nacimiento
no tiene muerte, es como un largo río,
sólo cambia de tierras y de labios.
Cien sonetos de amor XCII(We might not have found each other in time.
This meadow where we are, o tiny infinity! we return it.
But this love, my love, has not ended
and since it had no birth
it has no death, it is like a long river,
only changing lands and lips. One Hundred Love Sonnets XCII -- my translation)
Openings (most recent entries appear first)
Neruda's Nobel lecture delivered in 1971 when he received his Nobel prize in literature
Neruda in Spanish at the University of Chile
Go here for books by
and about Pablo Neruda, along with reviews
______________________________________________________________
interactive
art space © 2000
by luis o. arata
contents | here
| there | everywhere