The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz: 1957-1987 (Bilingual Edition) [Paperback]

Octavio Paz (Author), Eliot Weinberger (Editor, Translator), Elizabeth Bishop (Translator), Paul Blackburn (Translator), Lysander Kemp (Translator), Denise Levertov (Translator), John Frederick Nims (Translator), Charles Tomlinson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1991

“Paz's poetry is a seismograph of our century’s turbulence, a crossroads where East meets West."—Publishers Weekly

Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz is incontestably Latin America's foremost living poet. The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz is a landmark bilingual gathering of all the poetry he has published in book form since 1952, the year of his premier long poem, Sunstone (Piedra de Sol)—here translated anew by Eliot Weinberger—made its appearance. This is followed by the complete texts of Days and Occasions (Días Hábiles), Homage and Desecrations (Homenaje y Profanaciones), Salamander (Salamandra), Solo for Two Voices (Solo a Dos Voces), East Slope (Ladera Este), Toward the Beginning (Hacza el Comienzo), Blanco, Topoems (Topoemas), Return (Vuelta), A Draft of Shadows (Pasado en Claro), Airborn (Hijos del Aire), and Paz's most recent collection, A Tree Within (Árbol Adentro).

With additional translations by Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Blackburn, Lysander Kemp, Denise Levertov, John Frederick Nims, and Charles Tomlinson.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Paz, a cosmopolitan poet, is also intensely Mexican. In his lineswhether long and flowing or spare and chiseledsorrow and solitude are measured against the strength of his people and refracted through the prism of his gentle romanticism ("The world is born when two people kiss"). From India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and France, the poet-diplomat pens updates on the fragile state of the world. Yet if death is an ever-present reality in his poetry, so is hope. In addition to editor Weinberger, translators for this 800-page bilingual collection include Elizabeth Bishop, Paul Blackburn, Denise Levertov, Mark Strand and Charles Thomlinson. From the circular poem "Sunstone" (1957), modeled on the Aztec calendar, to the intense musings of "A Tree Within" (1987), Paz's poetry at its best is a seismograph of our century's turbulence, a crossroads where East meets West.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Libraries can choose between a collection that "contains in bilingual format all the poetry he has written since 1957" ( LJ 10/15/87) and a "a comprehensive selection . . . showing the range of Paz's poetic work" ( LJ 5/15/84). Sunstone, a major long poem written a quarter of a century ago, appears in The Collected Poems in a new translation. The publisher may reissue Sunstone as a separate volume in 1991.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: New Directions (April 17, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811211738
• ISBN-13: 978-0811211734
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sing the Voice Fantastico, August 15, 2001

By 

M. Swinney "Marc My Words" (Flower Mound, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz: 1957-1987 (Bilingual Edition) (Paperback)

Octavio Paz has since passed through this world leaving behind a beautiful web of words with the tapestry of things seen and unseen. Paz does an ambidextrous job of mixing in elements of surrealism with the bone of natural objects and that which is very real. His, and the translator Eliot Weinberger ... along with the help of other poet translators to include Bishop, Levertov, Tomlinson--all of their words come alive with beautiful language. The translation seems true to the intent.

What is essential about this book is that each poem comes with the bilingual translation in English and accompanied by the original works in Spanish. Two years of high school Spanish, as well as two years in college, has rendered me with a woefully inadequate ineptitude of all words and understanding of that language. But I don't think that the translation can ever capture the sound, the alliteration, the true tongue/la lingua and fluid language that Paz meant in his original Spanish. Even if I don't understand a lick of what's on the left side of the page in Spanish at least it can be read for it's beautiful sound. Listen to this, "Through the conduits of bone I night I water I forest that moves forward I tongue I body I sun-bone Through the conduits of night" and then on the even-numbered page, "Por el arcaduz de hueso yo noche yo agua yo bosque que avanza yo lengua yo cuerpo yo hueso de sol Por el arcaduz de noche."

What are you doing still sitting here reading my crappy writing when you could be reading Ocatavio Paz? Go get the book...you'll see.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, April 19, 2001

By 

Robertomelbourne (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz: 1957-1987 (Bilingual Edition) (Paperback)

Paz' poetry is sublime, and elegant. The words and ideas simply slip off the page. Its like taking a bath in chocolate.

Paz consistently suprises the reader with new ideas, form, language. Paz creates an atmosphere that is soothing, and enchanting. I would highly recommend this work.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Collection, July 29, 2009

By 

Deborah Verlen "Deborah" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz: 1957-1987 (Bilingual Edition) (Paperback)

If you enjoy the poetry of Octavio Paz (born 1914- died 1998), this collection is a wonderful addition to your library. Paz wrote literature and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990 and he also wrote poetry. Poems are presented in both Spanish and English.

Paz is a lyrical writer and his imagery takes you inside the poem and inside yourself. Take "Between Going and Staying" and the first stanza:

Between going and staying the day wavers,
in love with its own transparency.
The circular afternoon is now a bay
where the world in stillness rocks.

and the last stanza:

The moment scatters. Motionless,
I stay and go: I am a pause.

You can feel the stillness, feel the immersion, feel the pause.

If you are new to Paz and his poetry he is a wonderful poet like the great Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca--both are incomparable in weaving their words into poetic moments.