Rubén Darío was a Nicaraguan poet who was born in January 18, 1867. According to his own testimony, he learned to read when he was three years old. As soon as he learned to read, he started writing his first verses. The elegy, <em>Una lágrima</em> was published in the daily <em>El Termómetro (Rivas)</em> on July 26, 1880. So he won an award for this poem.
When he was 18 he decided to move to Chile. Where he spends 3 years working in different diaries as a journalist. He also worked as a writer for many magazines.
It would be "llegaron". A really helpful tool is to look at some online tables that share regular conjugations for the preterite tense. Hope this helps!
