Alfonsina y el Mar: the poem behind Argentina's farewell song

Alfonsina y el Mar appeared on Mercedes Sosa's 1969 album Mujeres argentinas, a song cycle about notable women in Argentine culture. Composed by Ariel Ramírez with lyrics by Félix Luna, the song is set as a zamba, an Argentine folk dance and vocal form.

The title translates as Alfonsina and the Sea, and the lyrics are built around the death of Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni. In 1938, after years of illness and depression, Storni took her own life in the sea at Mar del Plata. Accounts of the death often mention a breakwater, while the song follows the more poetic legend of her walking slowly into the water.

Mercedes Sosa's recording gave the song its central public voice, but Alfonsina y el Mar has also moved through concert song, folk, jazz, and classical settings. That long afterlife is not surprising: the story is direct and moving, while the image of a poet disappearing into the sea is simple enough to stay with each new version.

Listen to Mercedes Sosa perform Alfonsina y el Mar:

YouTube

The Argentine zamba developed during the 19th century as a folk dance in which two dancers circle, approach, and withdraw while waving handkerchiefs. As a song form, it often supports lyrical, reflective texts. Despite the similar spelling, it is a different tradition from Brazilian samba, with a slower and more ceremonial character.