Joey Saves The Day!: Facts about Pablo Neruda

Learn some quick facts about

Pablo Neruda.

This week’s famous poet is Pablo Neruda. Last week’s famous poet was Sylvia Plath.

Pablo Neruda was a famous poet and politician. He started writing poetry when he was ten years old. He wrote over two thousand poems. He was born in Parral, Maule Region, Chile. His parents are José del Carmen Reyes Morales and Rosa Neftalí Basoalto Opazo. Pablo’s mother died shortly after he was born. His father and stepmother raised him. He had two half-siblings.

Continue reading to find out more about Pablo Neruda.

Here is a list of some poems by Pablo Neruda:

Bird
Enigmas
Poetry
Water
Triangles
A Lemon
Cat’s Dream
If You Forget Me
Your Laughter
The Question

Parents/caretakers, be sure poems are child-friendly before reading them to your child/children.

Do you like poetry?

Quick facts about Pablo Neruda:

1. Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (real name) was born in Parral, Maule Region, Chile on July 12, 1904.

He died on September 23, 1973 in Santiago, Chile. He was sixty-nine years old. He died from complications of prostate cancer. It was rumored that he may have been poisoned.

2. Pablo Neruda was not only a poet. He was also a politician. He was nominated to become the president of Chile in 1970, but he did not want that position.

3. The following is one of Pablo Neruda’s poems:

Bird

It was passed from one bird to another,

the whole gift of the day.

The day went from flute to flute,

went dressed in vegetation,

in flights which opened a tunnel

through the wind would pass

to where birds were breaking open

the dense blue air -

and there, night came in.

When I returned from so many journeys,

I stayed suspended and green

between sun and geography -

I saw how wings worked,

how perfumes are transmitted

by feathery telegraph,

and from above I saw the path,

the springs and the roof tiles,

the fishermen at their trades,

the trousers of the foam;

I saw it all from my green sky.

I had no more alphabet

than the swallows in their courses,

the tiny, shining water

of the small bird on fire

which dances out of the pollen.

(You can print out a worksheet on this poem. You will fill in the missing words in the poem)

4. Pablo Neruda was only ten when he started writing poetry. He wrote in many different styles.

Here is a list of those poetry styles:

historical epics
love poems
political manifestos
prose autobiography
surrealist poems

5. Pablo Neruda was sixteen when he attended the Universidad de Chile (University of Chile) in Santiago. He wanted to become a school teacher, but instead, he devoted most of his time to writing poetry.

6. Pablo Neruda's two half-siblings:

Rodolfo Reyes Marverde
Laurita or Laura

7. Pablo Neruda was married three times. He had one child with Marijke (Maria) Antonieta Hagenaar Vogelzang. Their child’s name is Malva Marina Reyes.

Wives:

Marijke Antonieta Hagenaar Vogelzang
Delia del Carril
Matilde Urrutia Cerda

8. Pablo Neruda won a Nobel Prize for literature in 1971. In 1972, he won the Golden Wreath Award for his poetry.

9. In 1917, Pablo Neruda published his first article in a local newspaper (La Mañana). He was only 13. The article was titled Entusiasmo y perseverancia. He signed the essay with the pen name Neftalí Reyes.

Do you have a fact about Pablo Neruda? Please share it with our viewers in the comments.

Get your printable Pablo Neruda worksheet here:

Click here

Visit my printable section for a wide selection of worksheets and coloring sheets!

Books about Pablo Neruda:

Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown

Parents/caretakers, be sure books are child-friendly before reading them to your child/children.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my famous poet post!! If you find an error, please let me know.

Tune in next week to learn some quick facts about William Butler Yeats!

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