Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes, de Pablo Neruda

"Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes, de Pablo Neruda" has been shared to the blog from the Spanish reading exercises section of the learning library where you can find a large selection of interactive texts to help you with your reading skills.


Spanish online reading and listening practice – level C1

The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, was once described by Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez as “el más grande poeta del siglo XX en todos los idiomas”. As well as being admired for his poetry and winning the Nobel prize for Literature in 1971, he was active in the world of politics and held many political and diplomatic posts during his lifetime. The poem in this exercise is taken from his collection of poems entitled Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada. It was published when the poet was just 19 years old.

This reading and listening exercise can help you practise the perfect infinitive, using el de/la de/los de/las de and using Qué + noun/adjective/adverb + que + subjunctive to express feelings.

Exercise: Poema XX: Puedo escribir los versos más tristes, de Pablo Neruda

Watch and listen to the video. Click any phrase in the transcript for the translation and links to related grammar lessons which you can add to your Kwiziq notebook to practise later.

Click any word in the text to see its translation and related grammar lessons.

Author info

Shui Ng González

Shui is Kwiziq's COO and Head of Languages. She is an experienced technical writer, translator and project manager. Shui grew up bilingual English-Spanish in the UK, completing her studies in London, Madrid and Paris where she now lives. She speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian. Her love of languages and technical knowledge make her a perfect fit for Kwiziq.