Looking for Neruda poem that contains "long petal of the sea"
April 8, 2021 8:08 AM   Subscribe

Our book club just read Isabel Allende's novel A Long Petal of the Sea and would like to read the Neruda poem that contains the title line.

In Spanish it is “largo pétalo del mar, vino y nieve." I can't find even the title of this poem by Googling, in either English or Spanish.
posted by Joleta to Writing & Language (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Here it is in Spanish and ...
Okay, this is one of those things that absolutely delights me as a librarian because it's such an odd place to find such a thing:
there's an English translation in this Neruda teaching guide put out by Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
posted by Jeanne at 8:21 AM on April 8, 2021 [13 favorites]


Best answer: Spanish/English versions here too:

When?

Oh, Chile, long petal
of sea and wine and snow,
oh when
oh when and when
oh when
will I be home again?
The sash of your
black-white foam will encircle my waist
and my poetry
will flood your land....
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:27 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Thank you both so much! I can always count on MetaFilter.
posted by Joleta at 8:33 AM on April 8, 2021


aside: reading to your object of desire from 'the captain's verses' is perhaps one of the most sublime, delightful, and romantic experiences available.
posted by j_curiouser at 9:42 AM on April 8, 2021


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