The entire absence in this lament for the dead of any consolation
drawn from Christian doctrines, points clearly to a date for its
composition earlier than the teachings of the missionaries. Its cry
of woe is hopeless, and the title attributes its authorship to one of
the old chieftains, _tlatoani_, who held the power before the
Spaniard arrived.
1. _quetzalhuahuaciuhtoque_, from _quetzalli, huaqui_; _in
teintoque_, the splinters; the same simile is employed in VII, 2.
2. _ximoayan_, see note to I, 8. The occurrence of this term here and
in verse 3 testifies to the fact of a composition outside of
Christian influences.