Pablo Neruda was without doubt one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century but his work is extremely uneven. There is a view that there are two Nerudas, an early Romantic visionary and a later Marxist populist, who denied his earlier poetic self. By focussing on the poet's apprenticeship, and by looking closely at how Neruda created his poetic persona within his poems, this Companion tries to establish what should survive of his massive output. By seeing his early work as self exploration through metaphor and sound, as well as through varieties of love and direct experience, the Companion outlines a unity behind all the work, based on voice and a public self. Neruda's debt to reading and books is studied in depth and the change in poetics re-examined by concentrating on the early work up to Residencia en la tierra I and II and why he wanted to become a poet. Debate about quality and representativity is grounded in his Romantic thinking, sensibility and sincerity. Unlike a Borges or a Paz who accompanied their creative work with analytical essays, Neruda distilled all his experiences into his poems, which remainhis true biography. Jason Wilson is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies, University College London.

From Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda comes Intimacies--a beautiful companion to On the Blue Shore of Silence--showcasing some of Neruda's most extraordinary love poems, and once again married with Mary Heebner's earthy, evocative paintings. The poems in this collection remind us that love is woven through all life, and that amorous love is only but the tip of such a powerful emotion. This collection presents Neruda at the height of his powers, with some of the most vibrant verses of the twentieth century. --HarperCollins Publishers.

This Companion provides a chronological survey of Latin American poetry, analysis of modern trends and six succinct essays on the major figures.

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was the greatest Latin American poet of the 20th century. A prolific, inspirational poet, he wrote many different kinds of poems covering a wide range of themes, notably love, death, grief and despair.

In this book-length poem, translated for the first time into English and presented in a bilingual format, Nobel Laureate Neruda composes a "valediction to the Sixties" and confronts a grim disillusionment growing inside him.

Long poem inspired by the author's journey to a ruined Inca city, Macchu Picchu, high in the Andes, symbolic not only of his physical journey but also of his spiritual adventure.

Describes the life and times of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet.