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Fully Empowered
An engaging and accessible collection that includes some of the Nobel Prize winner's own favorite poems, with the English translations and original Spanish presented on facing pages.
"The Sea"
A single entity, but no blood.
A single caress, death or a rose.
The sea comes in and puts our lives together
and attacks alone and spreads itself and sing
sin nights and days and men and living creatures.
Its essence-fire and cold; movement, movement.
Pablo Neruda himself regarded Fully Empowered -- which first appeared in Spanish in 1962 under the title Plenos Poderes -- as a particular favorite, in part because it came out of a most fruitful period in his life. These thirty-six poems vary from short, intense lyrics to characteristic Neruda odes to magnificent meditations on the office of poet, including poems that would undoubtedly claim a place in any selection of Neruda's greatest work. "The People" ("El Pueblo"), about the state of the working man in Chile's past and present, and the most celebrated of Neruda's later poems, completes this reflective, graceful collection.
"The Sea"
A single entity, but no blood.
A single caress, death or a rose.
The sea comes in and puts our lives together
and attacks alone and spreads itself and sing
sin nights and days and men and living creatures.
Its essence-fire and cold; movement, movement.
Pablo Neruda himself regarded Fully Empowered -- which first appeared in Spanish in 1962 under the title Plenos Poderes -- as a particular favorite, in part because it came out of a most fruitful period in his life. These thirty-six poems vary from short, intense lyrics to characteristic Neruda odes to magnificent meditations on the office of poet, including poems that would undoubtedly claim a place in any selection of Neruda's greatest work. "The People" ("El Pueblo"), about the state of the working man in Chile's past and present, and the most celebrated of Neruda's later poems, completes this reflective, graceful collection.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Pablo Neruda
885 books9,094 followersPablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda assumed his pen name as a teenager, partly because it was in vogue, partly to hide his poetry from his father, a rigid man who wanted his son to have a "practical" occupation. Neruda's pen name was derived from Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda; Pablo is thought to be from Paul Verlaine. With his works translated into many languages, Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century.
Neruda was accomplished in a variety of styles, ranging from erotically charged love poems like his collection Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, surrealist poems, historical epics, and overtly political manifestos. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a controversial award because of his political activism. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language."
On July 15, 1945, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, he read to 100,000 people in honor of Communist revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes. When Neruda returned to Chile after his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Salvador Allende invited him to read at the Estadio Nacional before 70,000 people.
During his lifetime, Neruda occupied many diplomatic posts and served a stint as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party. When Conservative Chilean President González Videla outlawed communism in Chile, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Friends hid him for months in a house basement in the Chilean port of Valparaíso. Later, Neruda escaped into exile through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina. Years later, Neruda was a close collaborator to socialist President Salvador Allende.
Neruda was hospitalized with cancer at the time of the Chilean coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet. Three days after being hospitalized, Neruda died of heart failure. Already a legend in life, Neruda's death reverberated around the world. Pinochet had denied permission to transform Neruda's funeral into a public event. However, thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew and crowded the streets to pay their respects. Neruda's funeral became the first public protest against the Chilean military dictatorship.
Neruda was accomplished in a variety of styles, ranging from erotically charged love poems like his collection Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, surrealist poems, historical epics, and overtly political manifestos. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a controversial award because of his political activism. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language."
On July 15, 1945, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, he read to 100,000 people in honor of Communist revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes. When Neruda returned to Chile after his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Salvador Allende invited him to read at the Estadio Nacional before 70,000 people.
During his lifetime, Neruda occupied many diplomatic posts and served a stint as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party. When Conservative Chilean President González Videla outlawed communism in Chile, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Friends hid him for months in a house basement in the Chilean port of Valparaíso. Later, Neruda escaped into exile through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina. Years later, Neruda was a close collaborator to socialist President Salvador Allende.
Neruda was hospitalized with cancer at the time of the Chilean coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet. Three days after being hospitalized, Neruda died of heart failure. Already a legend in life, Neruda's death reverberated around the world. Pinochet had denied permission to transform Neruda's funeral into a public event. However, thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew and crowded the streets to pay their respects. Neruda's funeral became the first public protest against the Chilean military dictatorship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
September 5, 2015
Me gané este libro en un concurso de poesía y me quedé encantada con todo lo que se puede ver en un verso de Neruda.
March 24, 2020
Colecção de poemas do grande Pablo, com temas variados, desde lugares a momentos, de animais a pessoas, do geral ao grão de areia, do universal ao particular, do passado ao poeta, uma leitura bastante agradável.
August 19, 2015
This is a dual language book. Nevertheless, it has taken me months to finish it. My typical pattern is to read a poem first in Spanish, understanding as much as I can; then I read it in English, looking back and forth to study vocabulary words or constructions I had not understood; then, finally, I read it in Spanish again. This works well on the shorter poems, but not as well on the ones that are several pages long. In either case, one poem a day is my maximum, because then I need time to think about them.
Like most collections, I found the quality somewhat uneven. Some of the poems I found to be silly or frivolous; most are quite good; and a select few are immensely powerful. But always, what shines through each poem are an appreciation for the power of nature in general and the sea in particular, and an affection for the people around him, both individually and collectively. This is what keeps drawing me back to Neruda.
Like most collections, I found the quality somewhat uneven. Some of the poems I found to be silly or frivolous; most are quite good; and a select few are immensely powerful. But always, what shines through each poem are an appreciation for the power of nature in general and the sea in particular, and an affection for the people around him, both individually and collectively. This is what keeps drawing me back to Neruda.
May 1, 2023
Ooh, I am not sure how to judge and rate this. And not just because I always struggle a bit with that in poetry but because what I mostly liked was that I could use this book as a little translation exercise since it has the English translation next to the Spanish original. I might add, the exercise while hard work and slow going (with looking up a lot of vocabulary) was pretty successful but I cannot sit here and rate the icon that Neruda is on how much fun I had challenging my terrible Spanish with some poetry translation. That is somewhat disrespectful but a little bit of what happened here. I even thought on occasion that the Spanish sounded much better than what the English translator chose to write instead and that is definitely disrespectful and megalomaniac because I hardly speak the beautiful language of Spanish but here I am criticizing the choices by a renowned translator because I liked better what I jumbled together? Good grief.
So let's try this again. I think overall for my personal taste these poems sometimes got a little too descriptive. I chose it pretty much at random from the library because I wanted to try some Neruda after reading a lovely quote from him in Enriquez' novel "Our Share of Night" but maybe the subjects of this collection were not exactly what I was looking for. That quote was so much darker and more mysterious, I didn't quite find that vibe in these poems (despite hoping so with the cover). But there can be a sadness and thoughtfulness in these pieces that I often liked. While I was often distracted by my desire to work out the translation I also tried to sit back and just soak up the English side, really sit with what is being said here and I found a few that resonated. But I do think I need to try another collection where I entirely focus on the power of the words before I can form an opinion on Neruda and whether or not the two of us are meant for each other.
There is a lot on working class, describing city and work life and societal issues but also nature writing and observing his surroundings, some poems on grief and saying goodbye. It feels awkward rating this anything else but 3* given this experience but it is also all I can give: my experience.
My favorites: Planeta/ En la torre/ Adioses/ La Noche en Isla Negra/ El Pueblo
So let's try this again. I think overall for my personal taste these poems sometimes got a little too descriptive. I chose it pretty much at random from the library because I wanted to try some Neruda after reading a lovely quote from him in Enriquez' novel "Our Share of Night" but maybe the subjects of this collection were not exactly what I was looking for. That quote was so much darker and more mysterious, I didn't quite find that vibe in these poems (despite hoping so with the cover). But there can be a sadness and thoughtfulness in these pieces that I often liked. While I was often distracted by my desire to work out the translation I also tried to sit back and just soak up the English side, really sit with what is being said here and I found a few that resonated. But I do think I need to try another collection where I entirely focus on the power of the words before I can form an opinion on Neruda and whether or not the two of us are meant for each other.
There is a lot on working class, describing city and work life and societal issues but also nature writing and observing his surroundings, some poems on grief and saying goodbye. It feels awkward rating this anything else but 3* given this experience but it is also all I can give: my experience.
My favorites: Planeta/ En la torre/ Adioses/ La Noche en Isla Negra/ El Pueblo
May 8, 2021
“y no hablar es morir entre los seres:
se hace lenguaje hasta la cabellera,
habla la boca sin mover los labios:
los ojos de repente son palabras”
se hace lenguaje hasta la cabellera,
habla la boca sin mover los labios:
los ojos de repente son palabras”
July 16, 2013
This is my first time reading a collection by Neruda, and it's beautiful even in translation. And this is a good translation by Alastair Reid, a Scots professor and poet who also translated the illusive Borges. I don't think people realize how delicate a job it is to translate poetry. I'm not referring to matching rhymes, which is ridiculous. Anyway, Neruda's poems are rhyme and meter free. But to choose each word's connotative, contextual and phonetic equivalent is quite a task.
An example of Reid's skill can be seen on page 14-15 "The Sea": on the Spanish page the poem ends with the word "movimiento" but on the English side the word is repeated "movement, movement." I imagine this is because the English pronunciation is only two syllables, compared to the Spanish four syllables. Thus the "movement, movement" is truer to the original cadence of the line. A good translator can make a huge difference in poetry.
Some of the works are too brief and episodic for me. "Ocean", "Spring", "Thistle" - for example, seem flat and naive. But "The Word" on page 5, "Goodbye" page 55, and "To Don Asterio…" page 63 - are all fascinating and inventive. There are also a few leftist poems ("To the Dead…" and "The People") devoted to the proletariat, which are not bad but not as purely inspired as the others.
My favorite "To Acario Cotapos" (page 69-75) is dedicated to a fellow author, but also could be considered self-reflective. This stanza is particularly evocative of Neruda's calling:
An example of Reid's skill can be seen on page 14-15 "The Sea": on the Spanish page the poem ends with the word "movimiento" but on the English side the word is repeated "movement, movement." I imagine this is because the English pronunciation is only two syllables, compared to the Spanish four syllables. Thus the "movement, movement" is truer to the original cadence of the line. A good translator can make a huge difference in poetry.
Some of the works are too brief and episodic for me. "Ocean", "Spring", "Thistle" - for example, seem flat and naive. But "The Word" on page 5, "Goodbye" page 55, and "To Don Asterio…" page 63 - are all fascinating and inventive. There are also a few leftist poems ("To the Dead…" and "The People") devoted to the proletariat, which are not bad but not as purely inspired as the others.
My favorite "To Acario Cotapos" (page 69-75) is dedicated to a fellow author, but also could be considered self-reflective. This stanza is particularly evocative of Neruda's calling:
You, poet without books,
brought together in life irreverent song,
and the word that sprang from the cave
where it lay dreamless,
and for me you turned language
into a landslide of glass houses.
February 5, 2017
This is a mediocre offering from the usually reliable, shit, the usually sublime, Neruda. I think I've figured it out, though. Some poets who wander outside of their best stuff, in Neruda's case, love, are often discomfiting to some readers. I'm reaching, here, but, come on, who's going to read this? I guess, in short, what I'm saying is: his romantic poetry is better. His "secular" stuff, like this collection, is uninspired and a little dull.
July 12, 2017
My interests in poetry is selective based on the theme and genre. I have immensely enjoyed the works of Kahlil Gibran, Faust by Goethe, selected works of Shakespeare, and parts of Dante. However when it comes to collection of poems, i let my whim and the subject of poetry decide if i like them or not. There are many poems of Wordsworth, Robert Frost...that i love. Similarly, in this collection of Pablo Neruda's work, i like many. However, a few poems in this collection needs a certain rigorous devotion to poetry that i do not possess.
- Poet's Obligation, The Word, In the Tower, Births, To the dead poor man, Goodbyes, Thistle, The past, Sadness, The People - These i like a lot.
Neruda's poems stay close to Humans and hence carry a certain depth of emotion and poignancy. In that way, they differ from the other collections i have read of Frost, for example, which tends to lean more towards nature and its beauty. This is a good introduction to Neruda's work for me and would like to read more of him later. (As i have come to understand, he is more of a 'Love/Romatic' poet - That is not reflected in this collection).
- Poet's Obligation, The Word, In the Tower, Births, To the dead poor man, Goodbyes, Thistle, The past, Sadness, The People - These i like a lot.
Neruda's poems stay close to Humans and hence carry a certain depth of emotion and poignancy. In that way, they differ from the other collections i have read of Frost, for example, which tends to lean more towards nature and its beauty. This is a good introduction to Neruda's work for me and would like to read more of him later. (As i have come to understand, he is more of a 'Love/Romatic' poet - That is not reflected in this collection).
August 27, 2023
“Bela é a incerteza do orvalho,
cai na manhã
separando
a noite da aurora
e a sua fria dádiva
permanece
indecisa, aguardando o árduo sol
que a ferirá mortalmente.”
…
“Não se sabe
se fechamos os olhos ou a noite
abre em nós olhos refulgentes ,
se escava na parede do nosso sonho
até abrir uma porta.
Porém o sonho
é o veloz vestido dum minuto:
consumiu-se num latejo
da sombra
e caiu a nossos pés, desabitado,
quando se movimenta o dia e nos navega.
Esta é a torre donde vejo
entre a luz e a água silente
o tempo com a sua espada
e apresso-me então a viver,
respiro todo o ar,
transtorna-me o deserto
que se constrói sobre a cidade
e falo comigo sem saber com quem
desfolhando o silêncio
das alturas.”
cai na manhã
separando
a noite da aurora
e a sua fria dádiva
permanece
indecisa, aguardando o árduo sol
que a ferirá mortalmente.”
…
“Não se sabe
se fechamos os olhos ou a noite
abre em nós olhos refulgentes ,
se escava na parede do nosso sonho
até abrir uma porta.
Porém o sonho
é o veloz vestido dum minuto:
consumiu-se num latejo
da sombra
e caiu a nossos pés, desabitado,
quando se movimenta o dia e nos navega.
Esta é a torre donde vejo
entre a luz e a água silente
o tempo com a sua espada
e apresso-me então a viver,
respiro todo o ar,
transtorna-me o deserto
que se constrói sobre a cidade
e falo comigo sem saber com quem
desfolhando o silêncio
das alturas.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2020
Like most poetry books, you love some-wish you had written the poems you love first. Then there are those that are mediocre, and those that do not appeal at all. Fully Empowered has all 3. But I can never read Neruda without being inspired to write poetry. So that in itself is genius as far as I am concerned. And no matter what I love the sea imagery. Of course, Neruda's work, especially in this book is full of ocean imagery.
January 8, 2021
I usually struggle a bit getting into poetry books, but I enjoyed this one. I couldn't give it a higher rating however, because no one particular poem really stuck with me that I can remember. I think I'll try Neruda's love sonnets next, and I think I'll prefer those, but his writing style in general won me over even in this collection which featured poems surrounding some pretty random/niche themes.
I wanna write poetry just like Neruda.
I wanna write poetry just like Neruda.
January 30, 2021
My rating mainly comes from the fact that I don't read poetry so it doesn't flow easy on me. I decided to read this book because I am trying to explore a little bit more the genra of poetry and was curious about Pablo Neruda's writings. Every night I read a poem or two and I have to say that none of the poems really clicked with me. Still every night I found myself looking forward to opening the book to read a poem, somehow I found in his words a certain peace and delight.
August 6, 2021
A good quick read; it's always refreshing to dip into some of Pablo Neruda's poetry from time to time. His poems achieve that rare balance of being both multi-layered and yet simple, and so they are appropriate regardless of whether you want to relax or be challenged. They are accessible to all, as befitting Neruda's status as a champion of the common people. Indeed, Fully Empowered contains perhaps his greatest commentary on the working man, 'The People'.
June 13, 2021
“I write these words down in my book, thinking
that this naked farewell, with him not present,
this simple letter, which cannot be answered,
is nothing more than dust, cloud, inks and words
and the only truth is that my friend is dead”
no collection of poems has made me feel this much, made my heart ache so much, god.
that this naked farewell, with him not present,
this simple letter, which cannot be answered,
is nothing more than dust, cloud, inks and words
and the only truth is that my friend is dead”
no collection of poems has made me feel this much, made my heart ache so much, god.
January 21, 2018
2.5 to 3 stars. Some of his poems flowed beautifully, whereas in the case of others I could not really make sense of the context - lost in translation perhaps? Can't wait to read some more of his poems though!
August 4, 2018
A great work by a master wordsmith. Neruda's poetry is raw, timid, gentle, kind, empowering, frustrated and angry. He conveys the world the way it is shaped in his mind and his thoughts.
A masterful book that should leave the most enthusiastic poetry readers licking their lips in delight.
A masterful book that should leave the most enthusiastic poetry readers licking their lips in delight.
July 24, 2019
Several poems in this collection utterly floored me.
How in the hell can someone be so good? So tapped into the universe?
Pablo Neruda.. I'll read every word you ever wrote, and it won't be enough. I still won't be enough.
How in the hell can someone be so good? So tapped into the universe?
Pablo Neruda.. I'll read every word you ever wrote, and it won't be enough. I still won't be enough.
January 22, 2021
My rating is largely based on my own lack of education and understanding of poetry in general.
I’m positive as I engage this more, my rating will change... but as of now, I’m a 3 star poetry reader🤷🏻♂️
I’m positive as I engage this more, my rating will change... but as of now, I’m a 3 star poetry reader🤷🏻♂️
July 23, 2018
" the petal fell, falling
until the only flower was the falling itself."
mmmm mmmm mmmm
until the only flower was the falling itself."
mmmm mmmm mmmm
September 8, 2018
It's a keeper.
November 14, 2018
Not a bad poem in this book by the master. Beautiful.
August 22, 2020
such a beautiful poet.
February 1, 2023
Simply a perfect book.
March 12, 2023
Beautiful, moving, touching.
"The only thing you remember is your life."
How true this is brought me to tears. Neruda is, and will always be my favourite poet.
"The only thing you remember is your life."
How true this is brought me to tears. Neruda is, and will always be my favourite poet.
July 6, 2024
Dulce y corto.
March 8, 2024
Mi segunda vez leyendo a Neruda. ¡WOW!
December 20, 2017
This is one of Neruda's later works, published when he was 58. Like other works of the period, it deals with themes like life by the sea, the Chilean people, and his "autumnal" thoughts.
I think my favorite may be the first one in the book, "The Poet's Obligation." It begins:
To whoever is not listening to the sea
this Friday morning, to whoever is cooped up
in house or office, factory or woman
or street or mine or dry prison cell,
to him I come, and without speaking or looking
I arrive and open the door of his prison,
and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent,
a long rumble of thunder adds itself
to the weight of the planet and the foam,
the groaning rivers of the ocean rise,
the star vibrates quickly in its corona
and the sea beats, dies, and goes on beating.
I think my favorite may be the first one in the book, "The Poet's Obligation." It begins:
To whoever is not listening to the sea
this Friday morning, to whoever is cooped up
in house or office, factory or woman
or street or mine or dry prison cell,
to him I come, and without speaking or looking
I arrive and open the door of his prison,
and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent,
a long rumble of thunder adds itself
to the weight of the planet and the foam,
the groaning rivers of the ocean rise,
the star vibrates quickly in its corona
and the sea beats, dies, and goes on beating.
February 12, 2009
After spending an afternoon reading Neruda's poems on the Internet, one of my friends from Columbia bought this book for me as a surprise gift. I'm not a huge poetry fan, but Neruda's gift for giving words a woody crunch, or a salty wetness made for a delicious read. I've borrowed his metaphors both when writing songs with my brother-in-law, and also when making up songs to my wife while we lay in bed and I run my fingers through her hair. As mentioned, this guy is my absolute favorite poet.
January 4, 2015
I have never really been into poetry before, but thought I would give it a go. I was completely blown away. These poems are beautiful. I sat down and read it in a very short period of time. I probably should have taken more time to sit and think about them, but I kind of couldn't help myself. I am definitely interested in exploring Neruda's other poetry. I'm so glad I picked this book up from the library on a complete whim!
December 20, 2010
Through images, both public and private, he wrote with passion of the role of the poet in society, of how poetry was not some esoteric elitist word-game, that it should be the life blood of any nation, exalting the very basis of existence with an intense, personal, and childlike love.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews