Pablo Neruda is idolized by poetry lovers round the world. At the age of twenty, Neruda wrote ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’. Neruda’s poems are highly original, and marked by fantastic leaps of thought.
Neruda was born in Chile to Jose Del Carmen Reyes and Rosa Basoalto on July 12, 1904. The baby was named Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto by his family.
His father tried to dissuade Neruda from taking up writing. His father’s disapproval possibly prompted him to write under the pen name of Pablo Neruda. He legally changed his name to Pablo Neruda in 1946. Neruda published his first poems in the newspapers and magazines of Santiago.
‘Crepusculario’, his first book of poems, was published in 1923. ‘Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada’, Neruda’s subsequent book, was a bestseller. This book was inspired by Neruda’s experiences, and remains popular to this day. In honour of his literary feats,
Neruda was a diplomat. He passed away on September 23rd, 1973.