NOTES FOR SONG I.

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 Mьhlenpfort, 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).

<< Previous page Up Next page >>