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Twenty love poems and a desperate song

Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary

Twenty love poems and a desperate song It is one of the most important works of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. This collection of poems was published in 1924, when the author was only 19 years old and had many things to explain inside. This compendium has become one of the most relevant works of the 20th century in the literature of the Spanish language.

In this lesson from a TEACHER, we are going to give you a summary of Twenty love poems and a desperate song, so that you can understand a little better the author's need to communicate through the art of poetry.

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Index

  1. Summary of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Part One
  2. Second part of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: summary
  3. Historical context of the work

Summary of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Part One.

The work of Pablo Neruda It is composed of a compendium of 20 poems that deal with the universal theme of love in all its facets, from passion and desire, to sadness and heartbreak. From here we can deduce the title of the work

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Twenty love poems and a desperate song.

The poems have a simple and direct language so that the reader can have a calm reading, but at the same time, each of the verses is very emotional. The images described are very powerful and full of life, which turns each of the poems into a river that flows with emotions, feelings and sensations.

The work is divided into two main parts. The first is composed of 10 poems that talk about a love relationship from the lover's perspective. Each of the poems that make up this first part are completely independent; However, together they create a poetic structure that reflects the complexity of love and emotional life.

Poems from 1 to 5

The first five poems tell us about the physical beauty of women and the attraction that this generates to the body of men. Furthermore, he not only stays on the physical plane, but he also analyzes this attraction from a spiritual or mystical point of view. We can also see how he fuses nature with woman, creating a being that has the power to be blessing and bane for the lover.

Poems from 6 to 11

In this block, the author begins to speak from aggressiveness and desperation due to the need to feel loved. In these poems we can see how feelings of melancholy appear due to how far the beloved is from him. We can also see how death and unrequited love are seen, in a very subtle way, which are represented with the main figure of silence. In these poems the simile of women with nature reappears.

Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary - Summary of Twenty love poems and a song of despair: Part One

Second part of Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: summary.

We continue with this summary of Twenty love poems and a desperate song to talk about the second part. It is composed of 10 more poems, which tell us about the heartbreak and loss, from the perspective of an abandoned lover.

Poems from 11 to 15

In poems 11 to 15, the intensity of love increases exponentially and people begin to talk about woman as the reason for the poet's existence. For the first time, immense sadness arises at not being able to have her by her side. In turn, a desire appears to protect the woman he loves above all things and elevates her to the plane of a superior force that must be preserved.

Poems 16 and 17

In poem 16 the possession of the beloved woman, when she is finally there she approaches and together they can enjoy love. However, this happiness is fleeting, because in poem 17, the beloved walks away again, returning to color the author's life with sadness.

Poems from 18 to 20

These are the final poems of Pablo Neruda's compendium in Twenty love poems and a desperate song. To conclude his work, the author talks about the omnipresence of the woman he loves, even without him being able to see it. In this way, love triumphs over difficulties and women are idealized with a feeling so deep that it remains even after death.

Finally, the poet resigns and he accepts that this woman is not his, which leads him to a new melancholy, this time caused by the loss.

Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary - Second part of Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary

Historical context of the work.

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was one of the most important poets of the 20th century. He was born in Chile, in the city of Parral with the name of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto and adopted his pseudonym of Neruda in honor of the Czech writer Jan Neruda. From a very young age he showed his passion for poetry and he published his first works in local magazines.

In 1921 he moved to Santiago from it to pursue his studies in French pedagogy, but he soon abandoned the degree to focus solely on literature. In 1924 he published his work Twenty love poems and a desperate song,the third book of poems that he wrote and had an immediate success that made him one of the most prominent poets of his generation. The work is part of the modernism movement and constantly seeks to renew poetic language with new forms and expressive resources.

Furthermore, in the work we can also find elements of the avant-garde, such as the use of images that surprise the reader; and romanticism, such as feelings of melancholy and the idealization of the beloved woman.

We hope this summary of Twenty love poems and a desperate songby Pablo Neruda has helped you understand a little better this important work of literature in the Spanish language. If you want to continue delving into more works like this, do not hesitate to consult our reading section, where we will accompany you on this journey through the universe of books.

Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary - Historical context of the work

If you want to read more articles similar to Twenty love poems and a song of despair: summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Reading.

Bibliography

  • Araya, G. (1982). Twenty love poems and a desperate song. Hispanic Bulletin, 84(1), 145-188.
  • Santander, C. (1971, January). Love and temporality in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. in Annals of the University of Chile (No. 157-160, pp. ag-91).
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