From Not Just Another Travel Guide to Nicaragua, Mango Publications, 1990

The most famous of Nicaragua's sons, Rubén Darío remains relatively obscure in the English-speaking world. Renowned as the Spanish language's greatest poet and as a father of modernist verse and prose, Darío also held a reputation as a great drinker, romancer, and one of the most traveled Nicaraguans of his day.

Born January 18, 1867 in a humble dwelling in Metapa, Matagalpa (today Ciudad Darío), Rubén Darío was the child of a loveless marriage between Rosa Sarmiento and her cousin Manuel Darío. The child was taken to Le"n, the city of his parents, where he was adopted by his godfather, Colonel Felix Ramírez, and his wife, Do-a Bernarda.

Darío showed signs of talent at an early age. Although the child resisted a formal education, he began reading at the age of three and was composing verse by the age of 10. This attribute earned him the title of El Niño Poeta --the boy poet.

Since most efforts to school Rubén ended in failure, he was sent to Managua, where he was given a position in the National Library. Here he continued his studies of both classical and contemporary literature and was able to virtually memorize the dictionary.

Prize-winning Poet
Darío's first published poem appeared in a Rivas newspaper when he was 13. At 14, Darío was received by President Zaldivar of El Salvador and awarded an attractive 500-peso grant to support his talents.

The young poet squandered the money in one night of champagne revelry at a San Salvador hotel with newly found friends. On hearing of this antic, President Zaldivar sentenced the intemperate young visitor to nine months at a strict boarding school. Here Darío not only studied French, but also became acquainted with Parisian poetry.

Upon his release, young Rubén was again brought to the Presidential Palace, this time for a celebration of in honor of Latin American liberator Simon Bolívar. Darío presented his "Ode to Bolívar," considered the literary event of the year in Central America. Again the teenage poet was awarded 500 pesos, which he disposed of in much the same way as the previous. This time he didn't allow his hangover to detain him and he fled the country the next morning.

Darío was to spend much of his life away from Nicaragua, mostly in situations of financial uncertainty. It was in Chile in the mid-1880s where his first full-length collection, Azul… (Blue…) was published.

This work's importance was recognized immediately in Spain and Latin America. Azul… was a gust of fresh wind when compared to the repetitive, monotonous poetry of the time. Darío was proclaimed the spokesman of the "new school" --modernism-- and Azul… started a literary revolution.

Heartthrobs, Heartaches
Rubén Darío's romantic life was as complex and fascinating as the creativity of his quill and ink. The poet's teenage crush was Nicaraguan beauty Rosario Murillo, with whom he became heartbroken and disillusioned when he discovered that he was not the first man in her life.

On June 21, 1890, Darío married short-story writer Rafaela Contreras in El Salvador. Between the official and religious services, a military coup took place and the half-wed couple fled separately to Guatemala. Here they happily continued their marriage. Rafaela gave Rubén his first son but died soon after. Grief-stricken, the "Sorrowful Lion" drank himself comatose.

A year later, the depressed poet was tricked into marrying his old heartthrob Murillo while on a return visit to Managua. It was a classic shotgun wedding --Rosario and her unscrupulous brother led Darío to the altar with a combination of seduction, drink, and gun. It happened over the course of one night and when Rubén awoke, he was powerless to object.

The true and lasting love in Darío's life was Francisca Sánchez, a beautiful peasant woman he met in Spain in 1899. The poet patiently taught her how to read and write and even how to prepare his favorite Nicaraguan cuisine.

Darío's outraged legal wife followed him to Europe, where she was able to extract a deal for her silence --half of his income. Francisca stayed with Darío for the rest of his life and bore three children by him, two who died in their early years.
During his turbulent lifetime, Rubén Darío visited many countries, including France, Italy, England, Morocco, Hungary, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. He made many his home, working as a correspondent in Chile and Spain and serving as Nicaragua's diplomatic representative in Paris and Madrid.

Darío was one of Nicaragua's most notorious drunks. Over the years, he developed a taste for high living, champagne, and exquisite dining. However, he was known to often steal away from the most formal official banquet to share a bottle of cheap Nicaraguan cane liquor, guaro, with old friends. No doubt this overindulgence helped lead to the early death of the nation's greatest poet. Darío passed away on February 6, 1916 in a humble abode in his mother country. His remains were laid to rest in the León Cathedral, in the city where his poetic voyage began.

"My pick is working deep in the soil of this unknown America, turning out gold and opals and precious stones, an altar, a broken statue. And the Muse divines the meaning of the hieroglyphics. The strange life of a vanished people emerges from the mist of time." --Rubén Darío