Extravagaria (Texas Pan American Series)

First published in Spanish in 1958, Extravagaria was one of Neruda’s favorite collections and marks an important stage in the progress of his poetry. It was written at the point in his life when he had returned to Chile after many wanderings and had come to rest in Isla Negra, the small settlement on the Pacific coast that became his last home. The poems celebrate this coming to rest, this rediscovery of the sea and the land. In Extravagaria Neruda evolved a lyric poetry that is decidedly more personal than his earlier work. Written in what he called his autumnal period, the sixty-eight poems range from the wistful to the exultant, combining psalm and speculation, meditation and humorous aside. Finally, in the long Autumn Testament, Neruda assesses himself and his writings.