1. Listen with attention to the lamentations which I, the King
Nezahualcoyotl, make upon my power, speaking with myself, and
offering an example to others.
2. O restless and striving king, when the time of thy death shall
come, thy subjects shall be destroyed and driven forth; they shall
sink into dark oblivion. Then in thy hand shall no longer be the
power and the rule, but with the Creator, the All-powerful.
3. He who saw the palaces and court of the old King Tezozomoc, how
flourishing and powerful was his sway, may see them now dry and
withered; it seemed as if they should last forever, but all that the
world offers is illusion and deception, as everything must end and
die.
4. Sad and strange it is to see and reflect on the prosperity and
power of the old and dying King Tezozomoc; watered with ambition and
avarice, he grew like a willow tree rising above the grass and
flowers of spring, rejoicing for a long time, until at length,
withered and decayed, the storm wind of death tore him from his
roots, and dashed him in fragments to the ground. The same fate
befell the ancient King Colzatzli, so that no memory was left of him,
nor of his lineage.
5. In these lamentations and in this sad song, I now call to memory
and offer as an example that which takes place in the spring, and the
end which overtook King Tezozomoc; and who, seeing this, can refrain
from tears and wailing, that these various flowers and rich delights
are bouquets that pass from hand to hand and all wither and end even
in the present life!
6. Ye sons of kings and mighty lords, ponder well and think upon that
which I tell you in these my lamentations, of what takes place in
spring and of the end which overtook King Tezozomoc; and who, seeing
this, can refrain from tears and wailing that these various flowers
and rich delights are bouquets that pass from hand to hand and all
wither and end even in the present life!
7. Let the birds now enjoy, with melodious voices, the abundance of
the house of the flowery spring, and the butterflies sip the nectar
of its flowers.
* * * * *
The second song is preserved in a Spanish metrical translation only,
but which from internal evidence I should judge to be quite literal.
The words of the poem do not represent it as a composition by the
royal poet, but one which was sung before him, and addressed to him.
It admonishes him to rejoice in the present moment, as the
uncertainties of life and fate must at some time, perhaps very soon,
deprive him of their enjoyment.