El Gaucho Martín Fierro

by José Hernández

"El Gaucho Martín Fierro" by José Hernández is a narrative poem written in 1872. The work tells the story of Martín Fierro, a hardworking gaucho from the Argentine pampas who is forcibly recruited to defend the frontier. After years of abuse and hardship, he deserts and returns home to find his family scattered and his life destroyed. Driven to desperation, he becomes an outlaw, kills two men, and flees to live among indigenous peoples with his companion, Sargento Cruz.