Rating: 
Summary: forgetting this book will be long
Review: "I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long." What a way with words Neruda has. I used these lines to write to a boyfriend who was breaking up with me, and this poem expressed my sentiments like I never could. Each poem in this collection is a gem, and if you have never read Neruda, run don't walk to the 'Add to Shopping Cart' button. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: forgetting this book will be long
Review: "I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long." What a way with words Neruda has. I used these lines to write to a boyfriend who was breaking up with me, and this poem expressed my sentiments like I never could. Each poem in this collection is a gem, and if you have never read Neruda, run don't walk to the 'Add to Shopping Cart' button. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Without question...
Review: ...one of the most beautiful sets of poems in the history of poetry. Exquisite is the only word to describe Neruda's images and language. I have read the poems both in English and Spanish and even though the Spanish version is, of course, far superior, the poems don't really lose much in these translations. Neruda is the ultimate, TRUE romantic and not the schlocky caricature that we've come to accept as the essence of romance. Neruda understood the human condition with regards to love and its consequences like few other poets and it shows in the magical beauty of his work.
Rating:
Summary: Great Poetry
Review: 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair is very good poetry. Neruda is very appreciative of the human form and the beauty the female body possesses. However, this is not simply erotica poetry, Neruda's use of figurative language, and skillful word selection place in a unique class of poets. His style of poetry is reminiscent of Whitman, in that both display a great love for nature and the beauty that exists amongst it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Poetry
Review: 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair is very good poetry. Neruda is very appreciative of the human form and the beauty the female body possesses. However, this is not simply erotica poetry, Neruda's use of figurative language, and skillful word selection place in a unique class of poets. His style of poetry is reminiscent of Whitman, in that both display a great love for nature and the beauty that exists amongst it.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, wrenching poetry
Review: A beautiful gift for a lover. Perfect Valentine's Day gift or some other romantic moment. Draw a bath for them, light a candle, pour some wine, and sit and read them some of these often torrid poems. You will thank me later! MUCH later!
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: Buy this book and hesitate to read - all other poetry afterwards will pale in comparison. Then buy a copy of Neruda's autobiography to understand how Neruda can 'write the saddest lines'. I have given Twenty Love Poems and a song of Despair more frequently than any other gift. The perfect Valentine's or anniversary gift.
Rating:
Summary: Eloquent & beautiful
Review: His first book may well be his very best. I believe he was only 19 when he wrote these poems. Each one is more moving than the last. Body of a Woman is amazing. Anyone who deems their self a true romantic must own this book...read it aloud to someone you love...or to someone you want to love.
Rating: 
Summary: desire and longing
Review: I am a newcomer to the poetry of Pablo Neruda. "Twenty Poems and a Song of Despair" is simply one of the best volumes of poetry I have ever read. What a vast horizon opened up to me when I picked up this book! Rarely have I encountered a poet that so palpably evokes longing. Few other poets have Neruda's ability to weave images. These poems burrow into the heart. My Spanish is not what it should be, but I was able to read most of the poetry here in the original. For those who know no Spanish, do not be deterred. This volume is the work of not just one but two masterful poets. Merwin's translations are amazing and wholly recommendable. Striking images and a yearning spirit fill the English translations as well as Neruda's originals. I was also caught off guard by poem XVI. I was reading along, thinking how I had not read poetry this full of longing and desire since I last read Tagore's "Gitanjali" ..., when lo and behold, Poem XVI is a Spanish paraphrase of a Tagore poem...small world. Neruda's poems are of filled with a powerful Eros. Yet, to me, they fall a little short in comparison to those of Tagore (whose love is a spiritual longing). However, the comparison is clearly between two giants of the art. I give "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" a strong recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: this book was great.
Review: I got the girl of my dreams from this book and she loves me very much.
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