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Selected Poems of Ruben Dario: A Bilingual Anthology

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"Ruben Dario" is the pseudonym of Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento. He was born in Metapa, Nicaragua (today known as Ciudad Dario) in January 18, 1867.

From the inside cover of the book: "One of the greatest poets of all time in any language... [Dario] changed Spanish-language literature forever in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the seminal figure in the international movement known as "modernismo". Perhaps not since the prodigies of Spain's Golden Age has one poet managed to influence the course of Spanish-language literature so profoundly and permanently, virtually defining poetry both for his generation and for those to follow."

Whether Dario's name is new or already familiar to you, this book will be a joy to read. Amazon.com made this book available for purchase several months before it was actually published. Considering the price of the book, for me it was a purchase purely based on the faith that it would be good. Well, I'm far from disappointed, it's worth every cent!

As a native Nicaraguan who's read much of Dario's work in Spanish, I can honestly say that the authors' translations demonstrate tremendous understanding, sensibility and affection for Dario's work. His poems are presented in Spanish on even-numbered pages and English translations are presented on odd-numbered pages.

The themes of Dario's poems run the gamut: life, love, death, despair, politics, etc. Here's a couple of excerpts:

"VERSOS DE OTONIO"/"AUTUMN VERSES"

When my thought strays to you, it becomes perfumed;
your glance is so sweet, it turns profound.
Under your naked feet there is still the whiteness of foam,
and in your lips you epitomize the joy of the world.

Short-lived love has a brief charm
and offers the same end to delight and sorrow.
And hour ago I engraved a name in the snow;
a minute ago I expressed my love on the sand.

Yellow leaves fall on the boulevard
where so many loving couples stroll.
And in Autumn's cup there is a vague wine
into which your roses, Springtime, will drop their petals.

"LO FATAL"/"WHAT GETS YOU"

How fortunate the tree that is scarcely aware,
and more so the hard stone because it no longer feels,
since there is no greater pain than the pain of living,
nor deeper sorrow than conscious life.

Being, and knowing nothing, and being without a true course,
and the fear of having been, and a future terror...
And the certain dread of being dead tomorrow,
and suffering because of life, and because of shadow, and because of

what we don't know and scarcely suspect,
and the flesh that tempts with its fresh-picked bunches,
and the tomb that awaits with its funeral bouquets,
and not knowing where we are going,
nor from where we have come....!

The monumental greatness and expressive power of this giant of the Modernism, still permeates in new generations. Nicaragua was his nest, though his presence is universal. His poetry is plenty of deep significance: "Youth: Divine treasure" exemplifies a simple proof of his genius; three words that hurt and express much more than thousand swords and hundred of front pages.
Dario visited the hospitals of the hell that's why his poetry is so vigorous and strong, having born in a Romantic age, he overthrew this category becoming in a classic.
His tragic mood finds shelter even in the most imperceptible motives; from the morning dew to the brightest star: he writes as Rilke in mythic terms: he doesn't employ any masked subterfuges, or recondite places, he seems to have the astonishing capacity of crossing the limits of the real and emulating to Orpheus, goes and returns without effort to the last boundaries of the word.
Despite the fact all translation is a treason according to a Chinese statement, go for Dario and explore his universe. But if you domain the Spanish idiom the 'pleasure will be exponentially major and gratifying. .
If you require me about the two greatest names of the Castellan Poetry : Pío Baroja and Rubén Darío.