Author(s): Pablo Neruda

Poetry

"Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon" features nearly 50 of Neruda's poems and brings them to life for a whole new generation of readers. Unlike most other anthologies of his work, this edition is bilingual, with Mitchell's translation faced by Neruda's original Spanish-language work. Mitchell, widely known for his original and definitive translations of spiritual writings and poetry, has taken the work of Neruda (1904-1973), whose poems are passionate, humorous and exceptionally accessible, and brought them to life for a whole new generation of readers. Mitchell has selected nearly 50 poems for this collection, which focuses on Neruda's mature period, beginning with Elemental Odes, published when he was 50 years old, and ending with "Full Powers, " published when he was 58. The volume is bilingual, with Neruda's original Spanish text facing Mitchell's English translation. Excerpt from "Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon": Full woman, fleshly apple, hot moon, thick smell of seaweed, crushed mud and light, what obscure brilliance opens between your columns? What ancient night does a man touch with his senses? Loving is a journey with water and with stars, with smothered air and abrupt storms of flour: Loving is a clash of lightning-bolts and two bodies defeated by a single drop of honey. First published 1997. Praise for Stephen Mitchell' s translation of Rilke: ""Perhaps the most beautiful group of poetic translations this century has produced."" -- Chicago Tribune ""This is, without any doubt, the best English rendering of Rilke. It is as faithful to the original as the translation of poetry can hope to be, faithful not only to its linguistic meaning but to its poetic expressiveness."" -- Erich Heller, "Poetry"