![]() In his writings and during his political career as a leader of the Chilean Communist party (which he joined in 1945) and as a diplomat, Neruda exerted a wide influence in Latin America. They celebrate the dramatic Chilean landscape and rage against the exploitation of the indigenous people. His evocative poems are filled with grief and despair and bespeak a quest for simplicity. A surrealist, Neruda revitalized everyday expressions and employed bold metaphors in free verse. After 1927 he was in consular service in East Asia, Argentina, Mexico, and Europe. Neruda's highly personal poetry brought him enormous acclaim. He changed his original name, Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, so that his railroad-worker father would not discover that he was a poet. If you are interested in reading the full essay/lecture, you can do so by clicking here.Neruda, Pablo pä´blō nāro͞o´ᵺä, 1904–73, Chilean poet, diplomat, and Communist leader. Neruda ends the lecture/essay by commenting on his own work, saying, “I was the most forlorn of poets and my poetry was provincial, oppressed, and rainy. ![]() ![]() Neruda makes some other good points in the lecture/essay and stresses that a poet should not be a “little god.” He goes on to say, “He is not picked out of mystical destiny in preference to those who follow other crafts of professions.” He adds that the best poets are those who “prepare our daily bread.” These experiences are rich and fulfilling for those involved, and often leave the community feeling inspired and more likely to keep writing. Those skilled in poetry should consider creating workshops, reading series, and other events to share poetry with others and to give people a chance to share their work with others. I think this is an especially important point. Neruda also stresses in the lecture/essay the importance of reaching out to the community. There are a lot of ideas just in that one sentence, including Neruda’s belief that poetry is an action that requires time, space, and solitude, but it is also an art form that requires connection to community and nature. “I believe that poetry is an action, ephemeral or solemn, in which there enters as equal partners solitude and solidarity, emotion and action, the nearness to oneself, the nearness to mankind and to the secret manifestations of nature.” ![]() First, he brings up the point that writers need a balance of solitude and interaction with community/society to produce good work. He raises some great points in it about the craft of writing poetry and the poet’s relation to society. ![]() The essay/lecture comes from Pablo Neruda, and it’s titled “Towards the Splendid City.” It is the speech/lecture he gave after winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 1971. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Rainer Maria Rilke, and some more contemporary poets such as Robert Hass, Elizabeth Bishop, Charles Bernstein, and on and on.Ī lot of these essays I’ve already read a few times, but there is one I came across this time that I wasn’t familiar with and enjoyed thoroughly. It has some of the most important essays/letters written by some of the most influential poets, including John Keats, Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, Edna St. For anyone interested in poetry, this is a great book to have on your shelf. I am currently re-reading Lofty Dogmas, a collection of essays on poetry edited by Maxine Kumin, Annie Finch, and Deborah Brown. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |