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Seashore Poet Spotlight
Pablo Neruda
Pronounced As: päblo naroothä , 1904-73, Chilean
poet, diplomat, and Communist leader, whose original
name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basualto. Neruda's
highly personal poetry brought him enormous acclaim.
After 1927 he was in consular service in East Asia,
Argentina, Mexico, and Europe. A surrealist, Neruda
revitalized everyday expressions and employed bold
metaphors in free verse. His evocative poems are filled
with grief and despair and bespeak a quest for
simplicity. They proclaim the dramatic Chilean
landscape and rage against the exploitation of the
indigenous people. In his writings and during his
political career as a Chilean Communist party leader
and diplomat, Neruda has exerted wide influence in
Latin America. His many volumes of poetry include
Crepusculario [twilight book] (1919), Twenty Love
Poems and One Song of Despair (1924, tr. 1969), the
surrealistic Residence on Earth and Other Poems
(1933, tr. 1946), Canto general (1950), Elementary
Odes (1954, tr. 1961), Nuevas odas elementales
(1955), A New Decade: 1958-1967 (tr. 1969),
Extravagaria (1958, tr. 1974), New Poems: 1968-1970
(tr. 1972), and Toward the Splendid City (tr. 1974).
Neruda was awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize in
Literature during his service as Chilean ambassador
to France. Neruda died in Chile during the week of the
1973 military coup.
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