MARTÍN FIERRO FOR STUDENTS · THE RETURN · 1879
Canto 33 Explained: The Final Canto: New Names, Gaucho Rights and the Poet's Farewell
A source-linked English study guide alongside José Hernández’s original Spanish poem.
What happens in Canto 33?
The four companions go in different directions and agree upon a secret promise whose details the narrator explicitly refuses to reveal. They also agree to change their names. The closing voice then addresses the audience, turns to the gaucho's social exclusion, and argues that gauchos should have homes, schools, churches and rights. It explicitly announces thirty-three cantos in this second part, recalls the suffering shared with compatriots and closes by presenting the song as intended for everyone's benefit. The secret is never disclosed in the canto.
Original verses: five passages from the conclusion
The following stanzas are taken directly from the repository's original-text corpus, without modernization. Explanations elsewhere on this page are interpretation, not translation.
Después a los cuatro vientoslos cuatro se dirigieron;una promesa se hicieronque todos debían cumplir;mas no la puedo decirpues secreto prometieron.
Les alvierto solamente-y esto a ninguno le asombre,pues muchas veces el hombretiene que hacer de ese modo-;convinieron entre todosen mudar allí de nombre.
Es el pobre en su orfandáde la fortuna el desecho,porque naides toma a pechosel defender a su raza:debe el gaucho tener casa,escuela, iglesia y derechos.
Permítanme descansar,¡pues he trabajado tanto!En este punto me plantoy a continuar me resisto:estos son treinta y tres cantos,que es la mesma edá de Cristo.
Mas naides se crea ofendidopues a ninguno incomodo,y si canto de este modo,por encontrarlo oportuno,no es para mal de ningunosino para bien de todos.
Main characters and voices
Martín Fierro, his two sons and Cruz's son Picardía as the four who separate; the closing poetic narrator addressing readers and listeners.
Literary themes to identify
Unrevealed promises and changing identities; separation and new lives; social rights and educational access; authorial voice and literary closure; collective memory.
Gaucho vocabulary in context
cuatro vientos (the four winds, different directions); gaucho (rural horseman and social figure); escuela (school); derechos (rights); paisanos (countrymen); treinta y tres cantos (thirty-three cantos of the sequel).
What to notice in the narration
The text does not explain the promise; inventing its contents would corrupt the reading. Changing names is stated, while the narrator speculates generally about concealment. Stanza 1182 makes a concrete social demand for a home, school, church and rights. The farewell shifts from the four characters' actions into the poetic speaker's appeal to collective memory, not a report of later adventures.
Related reading: Fierro's advice before the final separation
Reading-comprehension and discussion questions
- How many companions separate at the opening, and what remains secret?
- What do they agree to change, and why must the motive not be presented as certain?
- Which specific institutions and protections does the closing voice demand for gauchos?
- How does stanza 1188 identify the number of cantos in the second part?
- What does the closing stanza say about the intended purpose of the poem?
Support answers with details from the original canto. Different interpretations may be justified if the quoted passages and narrative context support them.
Sources and further reading
Primary source: José Hernández, La vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879), Canto 33, reproduced from the site's structured Spanish corpus. Summary and questions are original English educational commentary, not quoted authorial explanations.
Original canto · Summary of both parts · Character guide · All study guides