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The Heights of Macchu Picchu : Bilingual Edition

[Neruda's] artistic work stands as a monument to a soul in perpetual motion. --Galo Rene Perez

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Not since Whitman has a poet of genius embraced a whole continent, as Neruda has, or spoken so directly to non-poets among his readers. --Selden Rodman

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The Heights of Macchu Picchu is the finest and most famous of Neruda's longer poems and provides the key to his earlier work. It was inspired by his journey to Macchu Picchu, the Peruvian Inca city high in the Andes. Neruda's journey takes on all the symbolic qualities of a personal "venture into the interior" as the poem progresses, exploring both the roots of the poet's identity and the history of Latin America. This translation has been rendered by the distinquished poet Nathaniel Tarn and is presented in a bilingual edition, with the Spanish and English texts on facing pages.

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Pablo Neruda, born in Chile 1904, is one of the greatest Latin American Poets to have livedwas one of Latin America's greatest poets.

The Heights of Macchu Picchu (considered by some to be his finest poem) was inspired by his journey to this famed ruined Peruvian Inca city. These poems take on a progressive journey within both the past of Latin America and the roots of the poet himself.

Lovers and devoted students of poetry will be caught up in Neruda's poetic power, hopefully capturing the quintessence of this great poets mind. Others, like myself, who are occasional readers of poetry, may need to reread his words, but, through the rereading, Neruda's own spirit will descend into you mind.

Pablo Neruda speaks to the heart and struggle of us all, as he writes, "How many times in wintry streets, or in a bus, a boat a dusk,.... in the very lair of human pleasure, have I wanted to pause and look for the eternal, unfathomable truth's filament I'd fingered once in stone, or in the flash of a kiss released." Highly Recommended. --Reviewer: Allan M. Gathercoal from Norcross GA

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Pablo Neruda must have written a thousand gorgeous and soul-shaking poems on everything from socks to multinational corporations, but in my (limited) experience, this is his most amazing work. He threads together a wide scope of metaphors-- corn, gloves, roses, lightning, streams, autobuses--as he searches through life for meaning and truth. Sounds like a worn-out, pretentious topic? Think again...Neruda doesn't indulge in philosophical navel-gazing, but delves into the most earthy, mundane, yet painful details of life in his quest. He encounters not a simple answer but the revelation of past tragedy, and a role for himself in bringing about the truth of justice. The poem's beauty may not hit like lightning at first--it must be absorbed bit by bit.

Although I must have read Poem 10 (Antigua America, novia sumergida) fifty times, it always sends chills down my spine and sends me thousands of feet high into the Andes. The Heights of Macchu Picchu has comforted me when I felt lonely, helped me write my college essays, and helped me see my future plans as worthwhile instead of idealistic mush. Anyone concerned with the history of Latin America, social justice, nature, or the works of Neruda should read this poem. --Reviewer: sarajini from Los Angeles, California