Pablo Neruda: Cien Sonetos de Amor
Pablo Neruda was born on July 12, 1904 in Parral but was raised chiefly in Temuco (Pring-Mill xvi). Christened Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basualto, he adopted the name "Pablo Neruda" out of fear his father would blame his poetry for his poor grades in math (Pring-Mill xvi). Pring-Mill argues Neruda's poetry was influenced profoundly by his childhood in southern Chile, as demonstrated by the range of natural objects that supplied Neruda's imagery (xvi). In addition, the geographical background of his life took on a thematic importance in his later poetry as he began to use it as the substructure for his view and interpretation of the world (Pring-Mill xvi).
Neruda's first poem was published when he was fourteen years old. While at the Liceo de Hombres of Temuco, Neruda worked for the student periodical Claridad, which marked his earliest contact with left-wing circles (Pring-Mill xviii). In 1921 he went to Santiago to train as a French teacher but he never completed the course. He edited the Claridad and won first prize in the Concurso de los Juegos Florales with a poem called "La cancion de la fiesta" (Oses 1). Pring-Mill notes that although the poem has no great literary merit it is significant because it already displays Neruda's poetic dexterity (Pring-Mill xviii).
Neruda's first published collection, Crepusculario (1923) was followed by the book that made him famous, Viente poemas de amor y una cancion desperada (1924), and at the age of 20 he was already considered one of the most promising young poets of Chile (Oses 1). Viente poemas is significant for its comparison to Cien sonetos de amor. In contrast to Cien sonetos, Viente poemas is filled with tense, desperately sad poems that use nature symbolism to analyze the nature of his feelings for what he later disclosed to be two separate girl-friends (Pring-Mill xviii). Cien sonetos, on the other hand, was directed at a woman ...