The Spanish poet, soldier, and diplomat Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (1533-1594) wrote the famous historical poem "La Araucana," which was the first work of genuine poetic art about any part of America.

Alonso de Ercilla was born in Madrid on Aug. 7, 1533, the youngest child of a distinguished father high in governmental circles and a tutor of Prince Philip, later Philip II of Spain, and of an aristocratic mother of royal lineage. Ercilla practically grew up in the royal household and was a companion of Prince Philip on his early travels, including the journey to London in 1554 to wed Mary Tudor, Queen of England.

News of events in faraway Peru stirred Ercilla's spirit of adventure, and he left Europe for America, arriving in Lima on July 6, 1556. He joined the expedition to Chile headed by the Peruvian viceroy's youthful son, Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, and participated...