WEBVTT

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I'm going to pause for a
moment or two and take a shower

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and then begin again.

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[LAUGHTER]

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Poem by the contemporary
Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.

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This is a poem called
"Nocturnal Collection."

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I'll say just a few
words about Neruda.

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Neruda's one of the
most influential

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of the poets writing in Spanish.

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García Lorca and
Neruda, I think,

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I would rate just about neck
and neck though they're going

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in somewhat
different directions.

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Neruda was born
in Chile in 1904.

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He was the son of a
railroad employee.

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He-- as is--

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this is often the case, in
South American countries,

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he was consul for
his government.

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He was consul to
Madrid for a while,

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he was Chilean consul
to Mexico in 1943,

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and he was elected to the
Chilean Senate at about 1944.

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He has a short essay which
has gotten a lot of attention

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in the States in
the last few years.

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The title of the essay is
"Toward an Impure Poetry."

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I'm going to read two sentences,
somewhat long sentences,

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from this essay.

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He says, "Let that
be the poetry we

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search for, worn with the
hand's obligations as by acids,

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steeped in sweat and in smoke,
smelling of lilies and urine,

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spattered diversely
by the trades

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that we live by, inside
the law or beyond it.

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A poetry impure as
the clothing we wear

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or our bodies,
soup-stained, soiled

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with our shameful behavior, our
wrinkles and vigils and dreams,

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observations and
prophecies, declarations

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of loathing and love,
idols and beasts,

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the shocks of encounter,
political loyalties,

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denials and doubts,
affirmations, and taxes."

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In short, he is after
an inclusive poetry.

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