At the beginning of the First World War in 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Rubén Darío decided to return to Nicaragua, because he also sensed that his end was near, he felt ill and wanted his remains to rest in his homeland.

On his return trip to Nicaragua, the poet passes through the United States and Guatemala, the latter country where President Manuel Estrada Cabrera gives him the best attention.

Then, in the second half of November 1915, he arrived in Corinto, from where he was transferred to his beloved city of León. His condition was already delicate. In León, doctors Luis H. Debayle and Escolástico Lara were looking after his health, and various civil and ecclesiastical authorities were also in charge of ensuring that he received careful attention.

Monsignor Simeón Pereira y Castellón, asks Jorge Navas Cordonero, the sculptor of the lion that is in a mournful attitude on the poet's tomb in the cathedral of León, to give him a daily report on the state of health of Rubén Darío, and he does so in a religious manner.

The poet has serious health problems due to cirrhosis of the liver, which has kept him in a very bad state for a little over a year, as a result of his excesses with alcohol. Between December 1915 and January of the following year, the doctors Debayle and Lara performed several punctures on his liver, from which they extracted enormous quantities of liquid.

It should not be forgotten that Dr. Debayle is a close friend of Rubén, but in his outbursts of anger and pain caused by his illness, Rubén curses and tries to attack the wise Debayle, but the latter maintains his sanity and does not stop caring for his patient and friend in the best way possible.

January is a difficult month for the poet, because it seems that the strength to remain in this world is abandoning him… On January 31, Rubén feels that it is time to leave a will to give his few earthly possessions to whomever he considers. The custodian of his assets - such as the house of his great-aunt, Bernarda Sarmiento, and the unpublished works of the poet - leaves them to his son, Rubén Darío Sánchez, the offspring he fathered with Francisca Sánchez del Pozo.

Two days later, the poet's pain and discomfort became unbearable and his condition worsened even more. The poet moved and shook, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, as if trying to express some desire. Dr. Escolástico Lara took his blood pressure and temperature, which did not subside.

There are moments of delirium that make him see ghostly apparitions. On one of the many occasions he wakes up agitated and says that he saw a serious dispute over his mortal remains and that upsets him greatly.

On Thursday, February 3, the poet remains bedridden, always with white sheets, one of his favorite colors. Near his head there is a small silver crucifix and another one on his chest, the latter a gift from the distinguished Mexican poet and close friend of Darío, Amado Nervo, who together with Rubén taught Francisca Sánchez to read.

On the evening of Thursday, February 3, Ruben became agitated, almost convulsing, death was approaching. The priests were waiting for the sacraments of Catholicism for this son of God in his final hour.

At last, death covers with a funereal crepe the figure, the life, the body of this distinguished man of Spanish and Nicaraguan letters who gave honor, prestige and glory to his native Nicaragua and of whom to this day we are proud that he is a Nica from Metapa and a Leonese at heart.

On Sunday, February 6, at 10:15 p.m., the celestial lyre-player, the magical poet, of the white swans, the harp and the lyre, Rubén Darío, passed away and passed on to another plane of life, a surname that he will leave to his descendants.

After countless speeches by politicians, poets and writers, his coffin was carried through the university, his house and masses. His body was buried seven days later, on February 13, inside the Cathedral of León, his beloved León.

Never before and never since, until today, has a funeral of such proportions been seen, with the participation of the poor and the rich, clergy and lay people, politicians, merchants and representatives from all of Central America and Nicaragua in general.

Ruben Dario, honor and glory of Nicaragua.