Spain in Our Hearts/Espana en el corazon

by Pablo Neruda

Neruda's epic hymn against fascism,  Spain in Our Hearts , now available in this pocket Bibelot edition. In 1936, Pablo Neruda was Chile's consul in Madrid, and so horrified by the civil war and the murder of his friend, Federico Garcia Lorca, that he started writing what became his most politically passionate series of poems, Spain in Our Hearts . The collection was printed by soldiers on the front lines of the war, and later incorporated into the third volume of Neruda's revolutionary collection, Residence on Earth . This bilingual New Directions Bibelot edition presents Spain in Our Hearts as a single book as it was first published, a tribute to Neruda's everlasting spirit.

Genres: Poetry, Spain, History, Spanish Literature, Latin American, Nonfiction, Classics

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Pablo Neruda, born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto in 1904 in Parral, Chile, was a poet, diplomat, and politician, widely considered one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. From an early age, he showed a deep passion for poetry, publishing his first works as a teenager. He adopted the pen name Pablo Neruda to avoid disapproval from his father, who discouraged his literary ambitions. His breakthrough came with Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, 1924), a collection of deeply emotional and sensual poetry that gained international recognition and remains one of his most celebrated works.
Neruda’s career took him beyond literature into diplomacy, a path that allowed him to travel extensively and engage with political movements around the world. Beginning in 1927, he served in various consular posts in Asia and later in Spain, where he witnessed the Spanish Civil War and became an outspoken advocate for the Republican cause. His experiences led him to embrace communism, a commitment that would shape much of his later poetry and political activism. His collection España en el corazón (Spain in Our Hearts, 1937) reflected his deep sorrow over the war and marked a shift toward politically engaged writing.
Returning to Chile, he was elected to the Senate in 1945 as a member of the Communist Party. However, his vocal opposition to the repressive policies of President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla led to his exile. During this period, he traveled through various countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, further cementing his status as a global literary and political figure. It was during these years that he wrote Canto General (1950), an epic work chronicling Latin American history and the struggles of its people.
Neruda’s return to Chile in 1952 marked a new phase in his life, balancing political activity with a prolific literary output. He remained a staunch supporter of socialist ideals and later developed a close relationship with Salvador Allende, who appointed him as Chile’s ambassador to France in 1970. The following year, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognized for the scope and impact of his poetry. His later years were marked by illness, and he died in 1973, just days after the military coup that overthrew Allende. His legacy endures, not only in his vast body of work but also in his influence on literature, political thought, and the cultural identity of Latin America.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neruda's epic hymn against fascism. A heartbreaking account of the Spanish Civil War in poetry. I only knew Neruda's work from his beautiful poems of love and romance.

[Sadra Kharrazi · Rating 1 out of 5]

سه تا کتاب از نرودا خوندم یکی از یکی بدتر بودن

[Saeed Aj · Rating 5 out of 5]

با دل‌های شکسته!
به مردگانتان ایمان داشته باشید.
آنان تنها ریشه‌هایی در زیر سنگ‌های خون‌آلوده نیستند،
نه‌تنها استخوان‌های ویران بینواشان
به یقین خاک را شخم خواهد زد
بل دهان‌هاشان، هنوز باروت را می‌جوند
و چون اقیانوسی از پولاد یورش می‌برند،
و هنوز مشت‌های ناستوده‌شان، مرگ را انکار می‌کند
چرا که از این‌همه کالبد
حیاتی نامرئی بر خواهد خاست.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1936, Neruda was assigned to the Chilean consulate in Madrid, where he was shocked by the brutality of the fascist war and the murder of his friend, the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. As a result, he abandoned his previous metaphysical style of poetry for a very direct political poetry. This book will not be to the taste of those who prefer their poetry to be abstract, anodyne and obscure, but I found it very moving. I believe he later achieved a more balanced compromise between politics and literature, although since I am reading him chronologically I cannot be certain, but to the end his poetry remained committed.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written on the front lines of the Spanish war, amazing, I can't really write anywhere. The words are very powerful and one can see the horrific impression of war on the fighters and the country. The mothers waiting for sons and husbands, brothers who never return, a country that may never heal.

"And one morning all was aflame
and one morning the fires
came out of the earth
devouring people,
and from then on fire,
gunpowder from then on,
and from then on blood."

[Mehmet]

Tercüme şiirin zorlukları...

[GÜLGÜN]

“Kanayıp durmaktayken yüreğindeki ispanya Arakaunya’nın yeşil yangını, zümrüt kılıçlı Bromelizaları da soldu bağrında ey Neruda
Çiçekler de yitirdiler şili’de onurlarını”

[Mohamed Hayalla · Rating 3 out of 5]

متوقعتش اني اتأثر بشعر مترجم
3.5/5

[mila]

very cool i love neruda and i would like to become fluent in spanish again mostly so i can read his stuff untranslated. anyways this was a fun challenge for me both bc practicing spanish but also because i am not usually a poetry reader. will probably need to revisit sometime

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué puedo decir de esta colección de poemas, si aún tengo el corazón en un puño y los ojos llenos de lágrimas...

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Generales
traidores:
mirad mi casa muerta,
mirad España rota:
pero de cada casa muerta sale metal ardiendo
en vez de flores,
pero en cada hueco de España
sale España,
pero de cada niño muerto sale un fusil con ojos,
pero de cada crimen nacen balas
que os hallarán un día el sitio
del corazón.

Preguntaréis por qué su poesía
no nos habla del sueño, de las hojas,
de los grandes volcanes de su país natal?

Venid a ver la sangre por las calles,
venid a ver
la sangre por las calles,
venid a ver la sangre
por las calles!”

(“Generales traidores”)

*

“Así estabais, sembrados
en los campos, obscuros como siembra, tendidos
esperando. Y ante el huracanado hierro, en el pecho del monstruo
habéis lanzado, no sólo un trozo pálido de explosivo,
sino vuetro profundo corazón humeante,
látigo destructivo y azul como la pólvora.
Os habéis levantado,
finos celestes contra las montañas
de la crueldad, hijos desnudos
de la tierra y la gloria.”

(de “Antitanquistas”)

*

quito una estrella por las referencias racistas a “los moros” y así.

[Simon Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A suitably adapted epitaph for an horrific outgoing Tory administration:

‘A bowl for the TORY, a crushed and bitter bowl,
a bowl with remnants of iron, with ashes, with tears…

… a bowl shattered, overflowing, dirty with the blood of the poor
for each morning, for each week, forever and ever,
a bowl of TORY blood, facing you, forever “

[Brandon Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of Neruda's lesser works, a conceptual book of poems based on the Spanish civil war. Though I share his political convictions, I found myself powering through this volume without actually taking my pleasure in it, which is completely atypical of my experience with the author so far.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

اسپانیا در قلب ما را فرامرز سلیمانی و احمد کریمی حکاک به فارسی زیبایی برگردانده اند / 1363

[Gitte Winneche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vigoroso!

[Fatma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Madrid, alone and solemn, July surprised you with your joy
of humble honeycomb: bright was your street,
bright was your dream."


"Badajoz without memory, among her dead sons
she lies watching a sky that remembers:
Málaga plowed by death
and pursued among the cliffs
until the maddened mothers
beat upon the rock with their newborn sons."


"Nothing not even victory
will erase the terrible hollow of the blood"


"Evil one, neither fire nor hot vinegar
in a nest of volcanic witches, nor devouring ice,
nor the putrid turtle that barking and weeping with the voice of a dead
woman scratches your belly
seeking a wedding ring and the toy of a slaughtered child,
will be for you anything but a dark demolished
door."


"All and all the sad children cut to pieces,
rigid, they hang awaiting in your hell
that day of cold festivity: your arrival."


"onward, onward, onward, onward,
over the mines, over the cemeteries, facing the abominable
appetite of death, facing the bristling
terror of the traitors,
people, effective people, hearts and guns,
hearts and guns, onward."



"Army of the People:
your ordered light reaches poor forgotten
men, your sharp star
sinks its raucous rays into death
and establishes the new eyes of hope."

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most powerful collection of poems that I have ever read. Pablo Neruda, best known nowadays for his love poems, wrote this book during the Spanish Civil War as response to the horrors that the Fascists were committing. Republican, socialist, communist, anarchist, and separatist troops print and carried the book on the front lines against their shared enemy.

Thanks to The Western Canon (1994) by Harold Bloom for calling Neruda to my attention.

Title: Spain in Our Hearts [Espana en el Corazon]
Author(s): Pablo Neruda, Translated from Spanish by Donald D. Walsh (2005)
Year: 1937
Genre: Poetry
Page count: 97 pages
Date(s) read: 9/25/23
Reading journal entry #183 in 2023

[Angela LaScala-Gruenewald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve only read Neruda’s love poems so this was an excellent shift from his introspective intimacy to his outward communal and political commitments. Just as vivid and organic, but so so sad. I think for me Spain’s civil war is a forgotten component of WW2 and so these poems provided a very human portrayal of the fight between the Republican forces and fascists that will stick in my memory. Especially beautiful depictions of workers moving from everyday labors to fighting a war, and of mothers losing their children. I liked the antitankers poem too. Maybe most importantly it made me play catch up on history of Neruda’s ties to Spain, Lorca’s poems (and his death), and the Spanish civil war.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a touching collection of poems written by Republican soldiers during the Spanish Civil War. The edition I read had English translations of each poem. Since I am a lifelong student of Spanish, the book helped me learn some challenging vocabulary words. My fav was one entitled, "El General Franco en los infiernos" because the description of the Nationalist general is reminiscent of The US's own Franco, currently unfortunately, residing in the White House.

[Holt Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A passionate, sad, energetic volume of poetry. Featuring Neruda's characteristic vivid, earthy imagery, this slim volume (in Spanish with matching translations) is distinguished by the intense sorrow and anger of its verses, which commemorate the (eventually unsuccessful) resistance to the Franco regime during the Spanish Civil War, when the author was a diplomat in Spain. A moving tribute to the pain of crushed hopes, conquered democracy, and the brutality of civil war.

[Sara Palazzo Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es impactante cómo Pablo Neruda consigue ganarse tu corazón a base de descripciones y sentimientos tan duros.
“En esta hora recuerdo a todo y a todos,
fibradamente, hundidamente en
las regiones que -sonido y pluma-
golpeando un poco, existen
más allá de la, tierra, pero en la tierra. Hoy
comienza un nuevo invierno”.

[Christopher Gow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize what I was getting into here - I’ve only read Neruda’a love poetry and this was terrifying and horrific. It’s brilliant writing, but the content is bloody streets and hellish imprecatory curses against the enemies of the Spanish people.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Kip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry. Also love the prologue that includes details on how it was initially published.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful

[Nilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully sad

[á · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada vez que leo el poema de Neruda a Lorca me pongo a llorar. Debe ser uno de los poemarios más bellos de Neruda. Es una lástima que la poesía más hermosa crezca desde las desgracias.

[Josita · Rating 1 out of 5]

no puedo creer q este wn sea nuestro orgullo nacional 🤨🤮

[Francisco Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pablo Neruda's Spain in Our Hearts is a haunting and powerful collection of poems, born from the fervor and despair of the Spanish Civil War. Written in 1936, while Neruda served as Chile's consul in Madrid, these poems are steeped in the raw emotional impact of the war, the tragic loss of his friend Federico García Lorca, and the rise of Francisco Franco’s brutal regime. The collection serves as a profound meditation on the sorrow, death, and destruction wrought by the conflict, ultimately reflecting the futility of hope in the face of overwhelming oppression.

Though Neruda attempts to maintain an air of hope in the midst of the chaos, the overwhelming tone of the poems is one of mourning. The imagery within Spain in Our Hearts is vivid and evocative, capturing both the beauty and the horror of the moment. However, rather than feeling celebratory or triumphant, these poems read more like eulogies than expressions of defiance. This is understandable given the context of the war's outcome, where the fascists would ultimately prevail.

While Spain in Our Hearts might not provide comfort, it offers invaluable insight into a tumultuous period in history, all through the lens of one of poetry’s greatest voices. It’s a powerful reminder of how art can serve as both an act of mourning and resistance in the face of injustice.

[Jadransko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maldición

Patria surcada, juro que en tus cenizas
nacerás como flor de agua perpetua,
juro que de tu boca de sed saldrán al aire
los pétalos del pan, la derramada
espiga inaugurada. Malditos sean,
malditos, malditos los que con hacha y serpiente
llegaron a tu arena terrenal, malditos los
que esperaron este día para abrir la puerta
de la mansión al moro y al bandido:
¿Qué habéis logrado? Traed, traed la lámpara,
ved el suelo empapado, ved el huesito negro
comido por las llamas, la vestidura
de España fusilada.
Malditos los que un día
no miraron, malditos ciegos malditos,
los que no adelantaron a la solemne patria
el pan sino las lágrimas, malditos
uniformes manchados y sotanas
de agrios, hediondos perros de cueva y sepultura.