Literature: Martín Fierro

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José Hernández lived in the late 1800s and is best known for his epic poem Martín Fierro. This poem represents the greatest example of literatura gauchesca, literature that deals with the gaucho way of life. It was written in two parts, El gaucho Martín Fierro (1872) and La vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879). The gaucho represents the freely roaming person who lives without constraints or government loyalties. Gauchos traveled the plains and worked trading goods or herding cattle from place to place. They were solitary men, accompanied only by their horse and their tools. Occasionally they had guitars and sang payadas or improvised rhymes. Martín Fierro is the story of a gaucho who is drafted into the military. He escapes and tries to return home. Of course, he encounters many problems and challenges. All he wants is to live in peace. The following are the first lines of this poem. Keep in mind that they were written how the gaucho spoke, so the grammar is not perfect:

Aquí me pongo a cantar Al compás de la vigüela; Que al hombre que lo desvela Una pena extraordinaria, Como la ave solitaria Con el cantar se consuela.

This is the translation:

Here I start to sing, At the vigüela’s tempo; Since when a man can’t sleep Because of tremendous sadness, Like a solitary bird He can find comfort in song.

(A vigüela is a type of instrument.)