Born in Nicaragua, Ruben Dario is known as the consummate leader of the Modernista movement, an esthetic trend that swept the Americas from Mexico to Argentina at the end of the nineteenth century. Seeking a language and a style that would distinguish the newly emergent nations from the old imperial power of Spain, Dario's writing offered a refreshingly new vision of the world - an artistic sensibility at once cosmopolitan and connected to the rhythms of nature. The first part of this collection presents Dario's most significant poems in a bilingual format and organized thematically in the way Dario himself envisioned them. The second part is devoted to Dario's prose, including short stories, fables, profiles, travel writing, reportage, opinion pieces, and letters. A sweeping biographical introduction by distinguished critic Ilan Stavans places Dario in historical and artistic context, not only in Latin America but in world literature.