a book
Ode to Common Things
Pablo Neruda · 1994 · 152 pages
A bilingual collection of 25 newly translated odes by the century's greatest Spanish-language poet, each accompanied by a pair of exquisite pencil drawings. From bread and soap to a bed and a box of tea, the "odes to common things" collected here conjure up the essence of their subjects clearly and wondrously. 50 b&w illustrations.
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Ada Limon
“It might seem cliché, but Pablo Neruda was an early influence, and I continue to turn toward him. It wasn’t the love poems that I was first drawn to, but rather Ode to Common Things. I loved the idea of writing about the smallest, simplest, mundane objects and turning them into odes. Perhaps that goes back to my wish for real magic to exist. Since then I’ve been to all of his houses in Chile and even though, like any historical figure, he’s problematic, I can’t help but admire his absolute dedication to the strangeness of the world.”↗