The “canción al río Lima”, by Bernardino de Montoya, ¿first? Chilean poet

Abstract

Bernardino de Montoya, a poet who flourished at the beginning of the 17th Century, in the Viceroyalty of Peru was the author of numerous work, many of them of high literary quality. A subtantial part of his production is extant. Almost nothing is knoun about the poet`s life. In a poem entitled "Cancion al Rio Lima" (Song to the River Lima), Montoya mentions that he was born in Chile. That information is examined in lihgt of other documents of the period, and the poem is analysed from a literary perspective. This paper also provides an edited version of the poem.