Confusing sentence in Facundo

Question

I'm reading an excerpt from Facundo by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento.

I just reached a confusing sentence that I have no idea how to decipher.

For context, the line before is "De aquí resulta que el pueblo argentino es poeta por carácter, por naturaleza."

Then, the part I don't understand, "¿Ni cómo ha de dejar de serlo, cuando en medio de una tarde serena y apacible..." It goes on for several lines, it's mainly up to serlo that confuses me. Could someone please explain the meaning and how it makes grammatical sense?

Answer 1

The grammar sense is just sentence structure. The meaning is similar to "How is it possible for (el pueblo argentino) to cease being poetic (when in the middle of a calm and placid afternoon .....................................

This phrase is a combination of two smaller phrases: "Ni cómo" (Not even how), "ha de dejar de serlo" (it should be stopped being it). "Ha de dejar" is a common structure used in imperative (you should stop / leave)

thanks! i wasn't aware of the ha meaning should in certain cases - HombreConElPlan, Feb 24, 2013