The gaucho Martín Fierro

The fifth canto

English versión of José Hernández’s poem —

José Hernández’s “El gaucho Martín Fierro” is a classic epic poem, divided into two parts, published in 1872 and 1879. It tells the story of Martín Fierro, a rural Argentine man, who is forced to flee his home and live as a fugitive due to a draft(forced recruitment for war) it describes the injustice and mistreatment of the gauchos by society and government, and also it celebrates their way of life and values. This poem is widely considered one of the most significant literary works in Argentina and is deeply ingrained in the country’s cultural heritage.

In this presentation, I will be providing a detailed explanation of the first part of the poem, referred to as “The departure of Martín Fierro.” The complete poem can be accessed through the following link:

The departure of Martín Fierro

Adapted from the spanish and rendered into english verse by walter owen with drawings by Alberto Guiraldez.

After three years in the fort, Fierro decides to desert. He then waits for the opportunity to do so.

Everything yonder is upside down,

Soldiers are turned into ‘peones’;

When the Indians come they cali them to arms,

But meanwhile they send them to work on the farms

And their army pay and their hire as well,

Is bagged by the Chief and his cronies.

The reason for fleeing is not only linked to the harsh living conditions to which he is subjected or the unjust punishments he receives, but also to the evidence that this state of affairs is irremediable. He has seen, as he himself says, “dirty business” and concludes that “the mess does not want to be fixed”. Here we read one of the most significant verses of the poem:

There’s many a Chief with herds and lands,

And soldiers instead of hired hands,

And many a dirty deal I’ve seen,

In spite of my ignorance.

The gaucho deduces that his freedom has been sacrificed to be transformed into cheap and free labor on the estates that the agro-export model organizes. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is a confrontation that Fierro has with an Italian immigrant who guards the entrance to the fort one night. The immigrant is drunk, doesn’t recognize him and shoots him.

In my life I’ll bet Til not forget

What happened to me that night

At the gate of the fort a raw recruit

Nearly did for me — the drunken brute! —

Though he propped himself up with his musket, yet

He could hardly stand upright.

He spoke so thick that no-one there

Could understand his lingo;

God knows where they could have found the man;

I doubt he was even a Christian;

A ‘papolitano’ he said he was, —

Which I take is a kind of gringo.

They had put him there as a sentinel, —

The drunken gringo beast, —

He was soused so well he could scarcely see,

And when I carne up he challenged me;

And the rumpus began when the fool took fright;

And I was the duck of the feast.

He yelled at me: ‘Quen vívore?’

And I answered: ‘Qué víboras!’

I could see him peering about in the dark;

‘Ha garto!’ he roared; and just for alark,

I said, ‘The only “lagarto” here,

Is yourself, you gringo ass.’

And on the spot — Christ save my soul!

I nearly went to glory;

I heard a click and I ducked my head,

And he missed me with half a pound of lead;

If he hadn’t been too drunk to aim,

I shouldn’t be telling the story.

As a result of this, an incident begins that ends with Fierro punished and staked out.

Then to my hands and feet they tied

Four thongs of plaited hide.

They hauled and jerked till they gave me hell,

But they didn’t jerk out a single yell;

And all night long that gringo brute

With curse on curse I plied.

Then to my hands and feet they tied / Four thongs of plaited hide.

This episode with the Italian immigrant is another occasion in which Fierro reiterates his questioning of the figure of the gringo and also of the government’s action in sending immigrants to the border, a contradiction in that they don’t know how to saddle or hitch a horse, don’t know how to distinguish one animal from another, spend all their time drunk and suffer the heat.

These are the gringos that Sarmiento thought of in his civilizing and modernizing project, why does Hernandez insist on this negative characterization of immigrants?

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