The song is an allegory, portraying the soul-life of the poet. By the
flowers which he sets forth to seek, we are to understand the songs
which he desires to compose. He asks himself where the poetic
inspiration is to be sought, and the answer is the same as was given
by Wordsworth, that it is to the grand and beautiful scenes of Nature
that the poet must turn for the elevation of soul which will lift him
to the sublimest heights of his art. But this exaltation bears with
it the heavy penalty that it disqualifies for ordinary joys. As in
medieval tales, he who had once been admitted to fairyland, could
nevermore conquer his longing to return thither, so the poet longs
for some other condition of existence where the divine spirit of song
may forever lift him above the trials and the littleness of this
earthly life.
There is no sign of Christian influence in the poem, and it is
probably one handed down from a generation anterior to the Conquest.
1. The word _peuhcayotl_ from _peua_, to begin, intimates that this
was a song chanted at the beginning of a musical entertainment. The
verses are longer, and the phraseology plainer than in many of those
following. There is also an absence of interjections and lengthened
vowels, all of which indicate that the time was slow, and the actions
of the singer temperate, as was the custom at the beginning of a
_baile_. (See Introd., p. 20.)
1. _Ninoyolnonotza_, a reflexive, frequentative form from _notza_, to
think, to reflect, itself from the primitive radicle _no_, mind,
common to both the Nahuatl and Maya languages. The syllable _yol_ is
for _yollotl_, heart, in its figurative sense of soul or mind. The
combination of _yolnonotza_ is not found in any of the dictionaries.
The full sense is, "I am thinking by myself, in my heart."
_ahuiaca_, an adverbial form, usually means "pleasant-smelling,"
though in derivation it is from the verb _ahuia_, to be satisfied
with.
_quetzal_, for _quetzalli_, a long, handsome blue feather from the
quetzal bird, often used figuratively for anything beautiful or
precious.
_chalchiuh_ for _chalchiuitl_, the famous green-stone, jade or
emerald, so highly prized by the Mexicans; often used figuratively
for anything noble, beautiful and esteemed.
_huitzitzicatin_, a word not found in the dictionaries, appears to be
from _tzitzilca_, to tremble, usually from cold, but here applied to
the tremulous motion of the humming bird as it hovers over a flower.
_zacuan_, the yellow plumage of the zacuan bird, and from similarity
of color here applied to the butterfly. The zacuan is known to
ornithologists as the _Oriolus dominicensis_. These birds are
remarkably gregarious, sometimes as many as a hundred nests being
found in one tree (see Eduard Mühlenpfort, _Versuch einer getreuen
Schilderung der Republik Mexiko_, Bd. I, p. 183).
_acxoyatzinitzcanquauhtla_; composed of _acxoyatl_, the wild laurel;
_tzinitzcan_, the native name of the _Trogon mexicanus_, renowned for
its beautiful plumage; _quauhtli_, a tree; and the place-ending
_tla_, meaning abundance.
_tlauquecholxochiquauhtla_; composed of _tlauquechol_, the native
name of the red, spoon-billed heron, _Platalea ajaja; xochitl_,
flower; _quauhtli_, tree; and the place-ending _tla_.
_tonameyotoc_, the root is the verb _tona_, to shine, to be warm;
_tonatiuh_, the sun; _tonameyotl_, a ray of the sun, etc. As warmth
and sunlight are the conditions of growth and fertility, many
derivatives from this root signify abundance, riches, etc.
_mocehcemelquixtia_; _mo_ is the reflexive pronoun, 3d sing., often
used impersonally; _cehcemel_, is a reduplicated form of the numeral
_ce_, one; it conveys the sense of entire, whole, perfect, and is
thus an interesting illustration of the tendency of the untutored
mind to associate the idea of unity with the notion of perfection;
_quixtia_ is the compulsive form of _quiza_, to go forth.
_onechittitique_; 3d person plural, preterit, of the causative form
of _itta_, to see; _ittitia_, to cause to see, to show; _nech_, me,
accusative form of the pronoun.
_nocuexanco_; from _cuexantli_, the loose gown worn by the natives,
extending from the waist to the knees. Articles were carried in it as
in an apron; _no-cuexan-co_, my-gown-in, the terminal _tli_ being
dropped on suffixing the postposition.
_tepilhuan_; from _pilli_, boy, girl, child, young person, with the
relative, indefinite, pronominal prefix _te_, and the pronominal
plural termination _huan_, to take which, _pilli_ drops its last
syllable, _li_; hence, _te-pil-huan_, somebody's children, or in
general, the young people. This word is of constant occurrence in the
songs.
_teteuctin_, plural with reduplication of _teuctli_, a noble, a
ruler, a lord. The singer addresses his audience by this respectful
title.
2. _ixochicuicatzini_; _i_, poss. pron. 3d sing.; _xochitl_, flower;
_cuicatl_, song; _tzin_, termination signifying reverence or
affection; "their dear flower-songs."
_yuhqui tepetl_, etc. The echo in the Nahuatl tongue is called
_tepeyolotl_, the heart or soul of the mountain (not in Simeon's
_Dictionnaire_, but given by Tezozomoc, _Cronica Mexicana_, p. 202).
_meyaquetzalatl_; from _meya_, to flow slowly, to trickle;
_quetzalli_, beautiful; _atl_, water.
_xiuhtotoameyalli_; the root _xiuh_ meant originally green (or blue,
as they were not distinguished apart); hence _xiuitl_, a leaf or
plant, the green herbage; as where the Nahuas then were this was
renewed annually, _xiuitl_ came to mean a year; as a comet seems to
have a bunch of fiery flames growing from it, this too was _xiuitl_,
and a turquoise was called by the same term; in the present compound,
it is employed adjectively; _xiuh-totol_, turquoise-bird, is the
_Guiaca cerulea_, Linn.; _ameyalli_, from _atl_, water, _meya_, to
trickle, and the noun ending.
_mo-motla_; to throw one's self, to dash one's self against
something, etc.
_centzontlatolli_; literally," four hundred speeches." The numeral
four hundred was employed, like the Greek "myriad," to express
vaguely any extraordinary number. The term may be rendered "the
myriad-voiced," and was the common name of the mocking-bird, called
by ornithologists _Turdus polyglottus_, _Calandria polyglotta_, and
_Mimus polyglotta_.
_coyoltototl_, literally, "the rattle-bird," so called from its
peculiar notes (_coyolli_ = a rattle), is one of the _Tanegridae_,
probably the _Piranga hepatica_.
_ayacachicahuactimani_; composed of _ayacachtli_, the rattle (see
_ante_, page 24); and _icahuaca_, to sing (of birds); to the theme of
this verb is added the connective syllable _ti_, and the verb _mani_,
which, in such connection, indicates that the action of the former
verb is expended over a large surface, broadly and widely (see Olmos,
_Gram. de la Langue Nahuatl_, p. 155, where, however, the connective
_ti_ is erroneously taken for the pronoun _ti_).
_hueltetozcatemique_; composed of _huel_, good or well; _tetozca_,
from _tozquitl_, the singing voice; and _temo_, to let fall, to drop;
_que_ is the plural verbal termination.
3. _ma n-amech-ellelti_, vetative causative from _elleloa_, to cause
pain.
_cactimotlalique_, appears to be a compound of _caqui_, to listen, to
hear, and _tlalia_, to seat, to place.
_amohuampotzitzinhuan_, a compound based on the pronoun of the second
person plural, _amo_, the particle _po_, which means similarity or
likeness, and the reduplicated reverential plural termination. The
same particle _po_, appears a few lines later in _toquichpohuan_;
_potli_ = comrade, compeer.
4. _Tepeitic_, from _tepetl_, mountain, _ititl_, belly, from which is
derived the proposition _itic_, within, among. The term is applied to
a ravine or sequestered valley.
5. _quauhtliya ocelotl_, the expression _quauhtli, ocelotl_, is of
frequent occurrence in the ancient Nahuatl writers. The words mean
literally "eagle, tiger." These were military titles applied to
officers commanding small bodies of troops; figuratively, the words
mean control, power, and dignity; also, bravery and virtue. Comp.
Agustin de Vetancurt, _Teatro Mexicano_, Tratado II, cap. 3.
6. _in tloque in nahuaque_; this expression, applied by the ancient
Nahuas to the highest divinity, is attributed by some to
Nezahualcoyotl (see above, p. 36). It is composed of two
postpositions _tloc_ and _nahaac_, and in the form given conveys the
meaning "to whom are present and in whom are immanent all things
having life." See Agustin de la Rosa, _Analisis de la Platica
Mexicana sobre el Mislerio de la Santisima Trinidad_, p. 11
(Guadalajara, 1871). The epithet was applied in heathen times to the
supreme divinity Tonacateotl; see the _Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, in
Kingsborough's _Mexico_, Vol. VI, p. 107.
8. _ximoayan_; this word does not appear in the dictionaries of
Molina or Simeon, and is a proof, as is the sentiment of the whole
verse, that the present poem belongs to a period previous to the
Conquest. The term means "where all go to stay," and was the name of
the principal realm of departed souls in the mythology of the ancient
Nahuas. See Bartholome de Alva, _Confessionario en Lengua Mexicana_,
fol. 13 (Mexico, 1634); Tezozomoc, _Cronica Mexicana_, cap. 55; D.G.
Brinton; _The Journey of the Soul_ (in Aztec and Aryan Myths),
Philadelphia, 1883.
_yhuintia_, causative form of _ihuinti_, to make drunk. The Nirvana
of the Nahuas was for the soul to lie in dense smoke and darkness,
filled with utter content, and free from all impressions ("en lo
profundo de contento y obscuridad," Tezozomoc, _Cronica Mexicana_,
cap. 55).