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| Author | Martín del Barco Centenera |
|---|---|
| Language | Spanish |
Publication date | 1602 |
| Publication place | Viceroyalty of Peru (modern Argentina) |
La Argentina is a 1602 poem written by Martín del Barco Centenera. The full name is Argentina y conquista del Río de la Plata, con otros acaecimientos de los reinos del Perú, Tucumán y estado del Brasil (Spanish: Argentina and conquest of the Río de la Plata, with other events from the kingdoms of Peru, Tucuman and the state of Brazil).
Martín del Barco Centenera was a priest who arrived to the Río de la Plata Basin along with the adelantado Juan Ortiz de Zárate. He wandered through the region for twenty-four years, narrating a poem with his experiences. The poem mixes both real events and imaginative tales, such as human-shaped fishes. The work, with more than ten thousand verses divided in twenty-four canticles, was published in Lisbon in 1602.
The poem is known for being one of the earliest usages of the name of Argentina.