His favourite writers at the time were Heine, Byron, Shakespeare, Karel Hynek Mácha and Václav Bolemír Nebeský.

He worked as a clerk for a short time, but was unhappy, so he decided to study philosophy and philology at Charles University.

By 1871, various groups had labeled Neruda as a "Traitor to the Nation", so he decided to spend some time away; visiting Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Hungary and Egypt.

[4] He kept detailed records of these journeys, which provide an interesting testimony to his life and times, with various insights that prove him to be a good observer.

Through her father, Neruda was able to meet Božena Němcová and Karel Jaromír Erben, famous Czech nationalist writers.

These letters became the source for the movie called Příběh lásky a cti (The Story of Love and Honor).

Once a week, for example, he wrote a column for the National Papers, worked as a theater officer and literary critic, and edited several popular science journals.

Beginning in 1880, he suffered from a swelling of his veins, which contributed to a number of diseases that afflicted him for the rest of his life.