Ruben Dario Centennial Studies

Rubén Darío (1867–1916), the undisputed standard-bearer of the Modernist movement in Hispanic letters, was born in Nicaragua. In 1886 he went to Chile, where he published Azul (1888), his first important book of poems and stories. Later he lived for extended periods in Argentina, Spain, and France, and in these countries produced his best work: compelling poems of beauty, style, and dignity, especially Cantos de vida y esperanza (1905). The perfection of form, exotic essences, and rich orna...