Pablo Neruda Essay

570 Words3 Pages
Meza 1 Cinthya Meza English 100 May 17, 2010 Biography on Pablo Neruda An extremely prolific poet, Pablo Neruda was not just Latin America’s greatest living poet, but also an ardent political activist. He used his celebrity to call attention to social justice. This Chilean poet was awarded the Noble Prize in literature in 1971. Neruda greatly stands out for the Latin American Culture of Spanish American poets. Neruda was born in the town of Parral in Chile. He was born Ricardo Eliezer Neftali Reyes y Basoalto on July 12, 1904, and then formally changed his name in 1946 to “Pablo Neruda”. “Pablo Neruda” was the pen name he used for over 20 years. At the age of 14, he had adopted that name in memory of the Czechoslovak poet Jan Neruda. At an early age Neruda wasn’t only interested in poetry but he was also interested in the troubles of Chile’s poorer class. His father, don José del Carmen Reyes Morales, was a poor railway worker. His mother, Rosa Basoalto de Reyes was a schoolteacher. She died of tuberculosis when Neruda was an infant. Neruda’s father moved with his sons in 1906 to Temuco, and married Trinidad Candia Marvedre. At the age of ten Neruda started writing poetry. At the age of 12 he met Gabriela Mistral, who encouraged his literary efforts. Neruda spent most of his childhood in Temuco. "I, a poet who writes in Spanish, learned more from Walt Whitman than from Cervantes," Neruda said in 1972 in a speech during a visit in the United States. Neruda knew very little Meza 2 English. Neruda's first serious literary achievement was an article that appeared in the magazine La Manana (1917). One of his best-known and most translated works is Viente Poemas de Amor y Una Cancion Desesperada. His family disapproved his literary ambitions. To avoid conflict with his family, he published poems in the magazine Selva Austral using his pen name. Neruda

More about Pablo Neruda Essay

Open Document