There are two forms of criticism that center around "Historia de la Nueva México." The first form criticizes Villagrá's attempt to assimilate history with poetic aestheticism since he is restricted as an artist by the historical contents of the poem. Villagrá's limits himself in artistic form because he still must present the historical material chronologically and accurately; this format leaves little leeway for Gaspar to be creative. While his is trying to develop a literary work that can be compared with Homer and Virgil, the contents of the poem leaves him grounded to the facts. As historian Miguel Encinias suggests, "Villagrá's poem contains practically nothing that may be considered novelistic or fantastic." Villagrá envisions his work becoming a masterpiece, but ultimately fails to meet his expectations because of the conflict with its form.