Celebrating Pablo Neruda

Do you know Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto? No idea? 

I am sure you have heard about Pablo Neruda.  Both Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto and Pablo Neruda refer to the same person. The eminently loved Chilean poet and politician, later on adopted his pen name as his legal name. Neruda's father was a strict man who forbade Neruda from wasting time writing poems. He adopted this pen name as it was in vogue to write under pseudonym in that era and also because it was easy to hide his poetry this way from his father. 

Born on July 12, 1974, Neruda was interested in writing and literature from a very young age. At the age of thirteen, on July 18, 1917 he published an essay in the local newspaper titled 'Enthusiasm and Perseverance.' He went on to write many poems which were greatly appreciated by the readers. By the age of 20, Neruda had established an international reputation as a poet. In the later years, he became a diplomat and politician and traveled the word on diplomatic missions. But poetry remained with him till the end. He was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature in 1971, two years before his death.

Neruda’s poems have a way of getting embedded into your very being. They are soulful, filled with positivism and honesty. I love almost everything written by Pablo Neruda.

Here are a selection of 5 quotes which show his brilliance.

Sonnet XVII is one of my favorites from Neruda.

Sonnet XVII

I have also created this video on YouTube for this sonnet. Enjoy!