Sublime Blue

Overview

A translation of Pablo Neruda’s early collections of odes, this book features poems that are addressed to hope and to gloom, to numbers and to the atom, to blue flowers and to artichokes. Reflecting the lucent, candid vitality driving Neruda’s charming accounts, these poems celebrate things big and the small: even lamentations become commemorations. Compassionately amused one moment then sobered by injustice and supportive of resistance the next, this bilingual compilation will appeal to fans of one of the 20th century’s most popular poets.

Reviews

"In addition to vibrant translations of Neruda’s early odes, William Pitt Root has given us a fine introduction about why this gathering matters. In both the original poems and the translations, the high energy is exciting and clear. And having assimilated Neruda's seemingly off-handed style in what he calls these 'tall, slender poetic stalks,' Root has a world of gifts for us that's powerful and engaging."  —James Hoggard, author, Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems and The Mayor's Daughter

"Two great voices meet and dance in this sterling new translation. Bill Pitt Root is the perfect partner for Neruda. Pure joy."  —Luís Urrea, author, Queen of America and The Hummingbird's Daughter

"Sublime Blue is an extraordinary and very welcome collection of Neruda’s early odes, from those well-known in English to those unknown. Poet William Pitt Root has done a masterful job of bringing some of Neruda’s most enigmatic poems into English. Neruda’s majestic language and vision are rendered here with passion and eloquence. This is a true gift to poetry."  —Marjorie Agosin, human rights activist and Luella Lamer Slaner professor of Latin American Studies, Wellesley College

Author Biography

Pablo Neruda was the pen name of the Chilean writer and communist politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1971 and is the author of The Heights of Macchu Picchu and World's End. William Pitt Root is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Reasons for Going It on Foot, The Storm and Other Poems, and Trace Elements from a Recurring Kingdom: The First Five Books of William Pitt Root. He is the recipient of the Guy Owen Award, three Pushcart Prizes, and the Stanley Kunitz Prize. Most recently, he has served as the John C. Hodges visiting writer at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. He lives in Durango, Colorado.