Gabriela Mistral's poetry are distinguished by intense emotions and straightforward language. The modernist movement has also affected them. Their main themes include love, deception, grief, nature, travel, and affection for children. Desolacion, her first significant work, was published in 1922. It received critical acclaim and helped establish her as an important figure in Chilean literature. Mistral is known for her precise imagery and sophisticated use of language. One of her poems, "La Madre," contains these six images: a mother hen protecting its young, a tiger stalking its prey, a storm raging outside a house, a fire inside a house, two people kissing, and a bride waiting at the altar for her husband to arrive. The book you have before you is one of Mistral's most famous works. It is a collection of poems that deal with grief after the death of her father. The volume includes some of her best-known poems, such as "A Mother" and "The Bride." Mistral was born in 1866 in eastern Chile. She died in 1950 at the age of 95. Although she lived in Argentina for many years, she remained deeply attached to her homeland and played an influential role in Chilean politics during the period of democracy following the end of the military dictatorship in 1990. Her work has been translated into several languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian.