Although No. V. is probably one of the lost songs of Nezahualcoyotl,
the present is the only one of the collection which is definitely
attributed to him. The language is very archaic, and in the sentiment
there is every mark of antiquity.
The text is apparently a dialogue, which was chanted as strophe and
antistrophe, the one singer speaking for the King, the other for the
bard himself.
The word _teotl_ is used for divinity, and it is doubtless this word
for which the copyists of some of the other songs have substituted
the Spanish _Dios_, thus conveying an impression that the chants
themselves were of late date.
The last verse, however, seems to be by one who lives after the time
of the great poet-prince, and is calling him to memory.