Aztec Poetry (In Triplicate)
Intimations of Lost Lore
Largely unknown to the modern world, the Aztecs, whom called themselves Mexica (hence the nation’s name: Mexico) were not merely bloodthirsty savages whom exacted tribute from every corner of their extensive empire. Like their close cousins, the Maya, those pre-Hispanic Mexicans were also architects, astronomers, mathematicians, and wouldn’t you know it? They were even romantic and lyric POETS.
The written form of the Aztec’s native Nahuatl was a pictographic type of script. Professor Emeritus Miguel Leon-Portilla tells us:
“The word was represented by a scroll proceeding from the speaker’s mouth; song [and poetry] by flowery scrolls.”
~ The Ancient Mexicans: Through Their Sagas and Songs (1961), pg. 64
Numerous archaic codices that survived centuries of book burning prior to and during the conquest were transliterated to Spanish by scholarly priests such as Bernardino de Sahagún, and they are still preserved in many museums and libraries today. From these we’ve learned a great deal regarding those ancient scribes. The most famous of them being the poet prince of Texcoco…
