The Nicaraguan Poet Ruben Dario
Born poor, raised by his grandfather, knowing his father as an uncle and only visiting with his mother twice, published at the age of twelve, at fifteen read his own poetry before the president of his country, published his first book of poems (Azul) at twenty-one, credited with starting the modernism movement, beloved by the Spanish speaking world and barely known to anyone else, this was the life of Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario.
He was a poet who loved and studied the French verse, but it was his mastery of the Spanish language and his ability to invoke some of the most beautiful passages, that today are still heard in the poetry and musical verse of the Spanish speaking world, that has set him up as the true pinnacle of poetic verse. Some say his was child prodigy of literature using thirty-seven different metrical lines and over 130 different stanza variations, many of his own design.
His book, Azul, is still one of the most influential books of Spanish culture. Ruben Dario created a masterpiece that was full of hope and beauty, but is also full of the brutal honesty that lies in the poets mind. The 134 pages of poetry and prose are filled with the frustrations of those who are struggling against the status-quo and even though it has a melancholy undertone through most of the book, one also gains a sense of hope as the artist paints a picture of a world than can possess the raw beauty it so well deserves.
As time passes legends are born and forgotten at a rapid rate. One person’s hero is another’s stranger and it is about time for Ruben Dario to become the hero to all who love the written word regardless of its language.
