Share this page: 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! -- "Explico Algunos Cosas" ("I'm Explaining a Few Things or I Explain a Few Things"), Tercera Residencia (Third Residence), IV, stanza 9. A long section of an English translation of this poem (see below) was quoted by British poet Harold Pinter in his Nobel Speech in 2005: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html And one morning all that was burning, one morning the bonfires leapt out of the earth devouring human beings and from then on fire, gunpowder from then on, and from then on blood. Bandits with planes and Moors, bandits with finger-rings and duchesses, bandits with black friars spattering blessings came through the sky to kill children and the blood of children ran through the streets without fuss, like children's blood. Jackals that the jackals would despise stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out, vipers that the vipers would abominate. Face to face with you I have seen the blood of Spain tower like a tide to drown you in one wave of pride and knives. Treacherous generals: see my dead house, look at broken Spain: from every house burning metal flows instead of flowers from every socket of Spain Spain emerges and from every dead child a rifle with eyes and from every crime bullets are born which will one day find the bull's eye of your hearts. And you will ask: why doesn't his poetry speak of dreams and leaves and the great volcanoes of his native land. Come and see the blood in the streets. Come and see the blood in the streets. Come and see the blood in the streets! -- Pablo Neruda, "I'm explaining a few things" (poem) (English translation by William Merwin), as quoted by British dramatist and winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, Harold Pinter in his 2005 Nobel Prize speech An interesting discussion of the above poem by Pablo Neruda: "Come and See the Blood in the Streets!" By Nicholas Thompson The New Yorker, April 17, 2013 Share this page:

The selection of the above quotes and the writing of the accompanying notes was performed by the author David Paul Wagner. About Us • Contact Us • Privacy • Terms of Use © 2005-23 Wide World of Quotes. All Rights Reserved.