Pablo Neruda

By Joseline Romero
 BIOGRAPHY

Pablo Neruda, original name Neftalí Ricardo

Reyes Basoalto, he was born July 12, 1904,
Parral, Chile and died September 23, 1973,
Santiago poet, diplomat, and politician who
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1971. He was perhaps the most important
Latin American poet of the 20th century.
 Early life and love poetry

• Neruda was the son of José del Carmen Reyes, a

railway worker, and Rosa Basoalto but is mother
died within a month of Neruda’s birth.
• Neruda was a precocious boy who began to write
poetry at age 10. His father tried to discourage
him from writing and never cared for his poems,
which was probably why the young poet began
to publish under the pseudonym Pablo Neruda,
which he was legally to adopt in 1946.
• His first book of poems, Crepuscular, was
published in 1923. The poems, subtle and elegant,
were in the tradition of Symbolist poetry, or
rather its Hispanic version, Modernism.
• His second book Twenty Love Poems and a Song
of Despair in 1924, was inspired by an unhappy
love affair. It became an instant success and is
still one of Neruda’s most popular books.
 Accomplishments
For the next 21 years, Pablo Neruda
continued to write prodigiously, rising in the
ranks of 20th century poets.
He also received numerous prestigious
awards, including the International Peace
Prize in 1950, the Lenin Peace Prize and the
Stalin Peace Prize in 1953, and the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1971.
The Poem Twenty Love Poems And
A Song Of Despair
• The 20 love poems of the title poignantly
describe remembered affairs with two women:
a girl from the poet’s native town of Temuco
and a classmate at the University of Santiago.
The collection begins with intensity,
describing sensual passion that slackens into
melancholy and detachment in the later verses.
The closing poem, “A Song of Despair,” is
bitter and hopeless.
 Poem: Here I Love You
Here I love you and the horizon hides you in
vain.
I love you still among these cold things.
Sometimes my kisses go on those heavy vessels
that cross the sea towards no arrival.
I see myself forgotten like those old anchor.
The piers sadden when the afternoon moors
there.
My life grows tired, hungry to no purpose.
I love what I do not have. You are so far.

• Neruda’s words: I am transformed into

someone who feels that the love of his life
is so far away even though she is really
just beside me, hearing me read these
words to her.
Personal Short Summary
• Its a poem were we
see two lovers without
close contact, also a
female feeling hurt in
this poem he wants to
her to be sure that his
love for her remains
intact. At the end he
shows optimist nature.
 Death and Investigations
• Neruda died just two years after receiving his
Nobel Prize on September 23, 1973, in Santiago,
Chile. Though his death was officially attributed
to prostate cancer, there have been allegations
that the poet was poisoned, as he died right after
the rise of dictator Augusto Pinochet to power.
• In 2011, Neruda's chauffeur alleged that the
writer said he'd been given an injection at a
clinic by a physician that worsened his health.
 Question Activity
• When did Pablo Neruda get Nobel Prize for
Literature?
• a) 1969 b) 1971 c) 1975 d) 19782
• What was Pablo Neruda’s original name?
• a) Jorge Videla
• b) Agostino Pinochet
• c) Raul Alfonsin
• d) Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto