It wasn’t until I first started studying Spanish that I discovered the Chilean, world-famous, Nobel-Prize winning poet, Pablo Neruda – and what a treat this was!
I think it's important to live with appreciation for small things that bring one joy, so I was delighted to read his odes, in which he expressed great appreciation for simple everyday objects like onions and socks!
Since many of his poems are available in a bilingual format, you can use them to build Spanish vocabulary. Neruda's poetry has been great for improving my Spanish, but I also admire his humor, playfulness and sense of justice. Exploring Neruda's works introduced me to poetry as a form of activism.
In honor of National Poetry Month, I hope you too enjoy discovering Pablo Neruda and his poetry.
Ode to An Onion: Neruda had a special friend named Matilde who helped cheer him up when he felt gloomy or sad. His heart felt "heavy" or sad when he thought too long and hard while writing about things that were unfair in the world, such as the hard workload for poor and hungry miners. Thankfully, he took breaks with his friend Matilde, whose smile, company and fresh vegetables from her marvelous garden lifted his spirits and nourished his body and mind.
Pablo Neruda: Neruda was known as Neftali as a young boy. He loved wild and quiet things, like the river, birds and reading. He even wrote poems using green ink because it matched the colors of ferns in the forest and grass.
As a teenager, Neftali wrote under the name Neruda because his father didn’t approve of poetry. Still, Neruda was brave and daring, writing poems criticizing powerful people. For instance, after writing about sick and hungry coal miners working dangerous jobs for little pay, he had to hide in the mountains to avoid arrest!
Book of Questions: With this book of questions, I dove into Neruda's wonderfully imaginative reflections, like wondering what would happen to bread if everyone used up the color yellow, or why crying clouds look cheerful. What an imagination! The bright illustrations accompanying Neruda’s poems by Chilean artist Paloma Valdivia will also delight you!
Do you have a favorite poem by Neruda? Or an ode to share inspired by him?
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