Traditionally, Colombians have believed that their nation has always been a land of poets. Undoubtedly, such a belief stems in part from the beginning of the country's lyrical tradition with the lengthiest epic poem ever written in Spanish by Juan de Castellanos (1522–1606) entitled Elegías de los varones ilustres de las Indias (Elegies of the Illustrious Men of the Indies). This extensive poem consisted of 113,609 hendecasyllable verses, some of which were rhymed while others were not. It is thought that Castellanos originally began writing a prose chronicle about the conquests in which he had participated or was told about by others. However, he later was convinced that he should express his account in verse to rival Alonso de Ercilla's (1533–94) epic poem La Araucana (1569; The Araucan) and thereby give equal glory to the heroism of the conquerors of the Caribbean islands and Nueva Granada (present-day Colombia and Venezuela). After his youthful career as a soldier, Castellanos was ordained a priest and assigned to Tunja. There, he began writing his epic poem mostly from memory. The poem comprises four parts, of which only the first was published in Madrid (1589) during the author's lifetime and the rest did not appear until 1879. The elegies of each part are divided into cantos. The first part covers Columbus's four voyages, the conquest of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica, the conquests of the islands closest to the South American continent (Trinidad, Margarita, and Cubaguas), the entrance into the Orinoco River, and the ill-fated misadventures of Pedro de Ursúa (1526–61) and the legendary tyrant Lope de Aguirre (1518–61) in pursuit of El Dorado. The second part deals with Venezuela and Santa Marta, and the third part presents historical events associated with Cartagena, Popayán, and Antioquia. The last part is entitled The History of the New Kingdom of Granada and relates events occurring in Tunja, Santa Fe, Guane and other places in the area until 1592. Although Castellanos's work is not as highly regarded as Ercilla's by most literary critics, nevertheless, it is significant for its incorporation of words from indigenous languages into Spanish and its vivid depiction of historical events and detailed descriptions of natural landscapes.