Title: Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Year: 2014
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 211
Genre: Poetry
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I recently bought a copy of Pablo Neruda’s poetry collection “Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair” at an online bookshop called BookDepository. I got the deluxe edition by Penguin Classics which contained illustrations, the original Spanish text, and the English translation as well.

First of all, the poetry collection isn’t about nature like Mary Oliver’s A Thousand Mornings or that sweet love in Lang Leav’s poetry books. Pablo Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair straight up talks about lust and sensual love. The words used by Neruda as translated are as follows:

“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs
you look like a world, lying in surrender.
My rough peasant’s body digs in you
and makes the son leap from the depth of the earth.“

Second, the words used may be a little too vivid for some but I do think that the imagery was nonetheless beautifully presented. Also, one can’t deny the longing and sadness lingering in Neruda’s collection. 

Lastly, I can say that I’ve enjoyed this poetry collection more than I expected. This collection has some of the most beautiful love poems I’ve read. 

Here is my favorite entry from this collection:

Tonight I Can Write

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

I rate this poetry book ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 stars.

Let me ask you before you go!

Have you read this poetry collection? Did you like it? What type of poetry do you enjoy?