Song LXXVI — Xochicuicatl (A Rain of Obsidian)
MS LXXVI carries the genre heading Xochicuicatl — Flower Song — the most lyrical genre in the Nahua poetic tradition. The song spans five sections across folio 64v of the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript. It has no named performer or attribution rubric beyond the genre heading.
The flower-song genre typically celebrates beauty, friendship, and the ephemeral joy of earthly life. MS LXXVI subverts this from within: three of its five sections are about war. The opening (§1321) introduces the borrowed flower — "not forever shall we gladden the Giver of Life" — and the song's only tender moment (§1324) asks how the Giver of Life shelters his flower, which "beautifully is entwined... sprouting... burst into bloom." Between and after these moments, the war imagery escalates: war-flowers twisted in the dusty plain, the conflagration-flower (tlachinolxochitl) swirling, a rain of obsidian (itzquiyehuitli), a rain of darts (tlacochquiyehuitli), fire-tassels (tlemimiyahuatl) — and the refrain, asked twice: "Is there yet pleasure? There is only death." The final line — "no one can dare approach them" — is the war-flower's answer to the opening's borrowed beauty.
The tlachinolxochitl (conflagration-flower, from tlachinolli "burning" and xochitl "flower") is a central Nahua war metaphor: the flower that blooms only in battle, whose petals are flame and whose pollen is dust. The itzquiyehuitli (obsidian-rain) and tlacochquiyehuitli (dart-rain) compound battle imagery — hails of obsidian-tipped arrows and thrown javelins streaming like weather. The tlemimiyahuatl (fire-tassels, from tletl "fire" and mimiyahuatl "ear of corn") evokes flaming projectiles arcing through the air.
MS LXXVI spans folio 64v, sections 1321–1325. Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
Not forever shall we gladden the Giver of Life!
Your flowers, the songs —
let us now rejoice!
We only borrow his flowers,
we only borrow the yellow flowers.
Ohuaya, ohuaya.
The war-flowers are twisted together
in the interior of the plain —
with dust they whirl,
the conflagration-flower swirls.
They desire it, they only seek it —
you princes!
Is there yet pleasure?
There is only death.
Ohuaya.
They only desire it,
they seek it —
the sweetness, the warmth!
Is there yet pleasure?
There is only death.
Ohuaya.
How does he make the offering!
How does he shelter
his flower — the Giver of Life!
Beautifully it is entwined,
already it is sprouting,
it has burst into bloom.
Ohuaya, ohuaya.
Upon it they scatter,
upon it they rain —
a rain of obsidian, a rain of darts!
In truth, only fire-tassels
have come raining down —
no one can dare approach them.
Ohuaya.
Colophon
Translated from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. MS LXXVI of the Cantares Mexicanos, genre heading Xochicuicatl (Flower Song), five sections (§§1321–1325), folio 64v.
The xochicuicatl (flower-song) is the lyrical heart of Nahua poetic tradition — songs celebrating beauty, friendship, divine flowers, and the brevity of earthly joy. MS LXXVI subverts the genre from within: its flower-field is a battlefield, its petals are obsidian and fire. The central tension — between §1321's "let us now rejoice" and §§1322–1323's "there is only death" — mirrors the Nahua understanding that war and beauty are aspects of the same offering to the Giver of Life (Ipalnemohuani).
Key terms: Tlachinolxochitl (conflagration-flower, from tlachinolli "burning/scorching" + xochitl "flower") — the flower of war that blooms only in battle, a central metaphor in Aztec warrior poetry. Itzquiyehuitli (obsidian-rain, from itztli "obsidian" + quiyahuitl "rain") — a hail of obsidian-tipped projectiles. Tlacochquiyehuitli (dart-rain, from tlacochtli "dart/javelin" + quiyahuitl "rain") — a shower of thrown javelins. Tlemimiyahuatl (fire-tassels, from tletl "fire" + mimiyahuatl "ear of corn/tassel") — flaming projectiles streaming like burning corn-tassels. Coçahuic xochitl (yellow flowers) — golden flowers, possibly evoking the cempasúchil (Tagetes erecta, the Aztec marigold) associated with offerings and the passage between life and death.
"Giver of Life" translates Ipalnemohuani ("He by Whom All Live"), the supreme deity epithet. §1321 uses the variant form Ipalnemoame. "Etcetera" marks in §§1323 and 1325 are scribal shorthand indicating the ohuaya refrain repeats.
All English independently derived from Classical Nahuatl. The León-Portilla Spanish translation in the UNAM TEMOA edition was consulted post-draft for morphological verification at §1322 (ylacatziuhticaqui — directional compound confirming "whirling" reading) and §1324 (quimanam — confirming mana "to offer/arrange" rather than a variant of māna). No existing English translation was identified for this song.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Manuscript Heading LXXVI
Classical Nahuatl source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, Biblioteca Nacional de México, sixteenth century, accessed via the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
[Folio 64v — manuscript heading LXXVI, Xochicuicatl]
[§1321, folio 64v]
O amochipa ye tehuan ticahuiltizque yn Ipalnemoame yn a moxochiuh yhuan in cuicatl ma ye tonahuiyacan çan titotlanehui ya yn ixochihui can titotlanehui ya coçahuic xochitla ohuaya ohuaya
[§1322, folio 64v]
Yaoxochitl yn mamalinticac yxtlahuatl ytiqui teuhtica yehuaya ylacatziuhticaqui quihuimolohua tlachinolxochitl conyanequi on çan quitemohua antepilhuan huiyayyayya on mach oc çan ahuilli ça micohua yehua ohuaya
[§1323, folio 64v]
A çan conelehui ya ohuaye a ca contemohua yio in hueliqui yio totonquiyan yiayya on mach oc çan ahuilli çan micohua yehua etcetera
[§1324, folio 64v]
Quenomach i quimanam quenomach i quicalti ya yn ixochiuh Ypalnemohuani yectli ya malinticaqui çan ye itzmolinticac oncueponticaca ohuaya ohuaya
[§1325, folio 64v]
Ypan tzetzeliuhtica qui yehuaya pixauhtica qui yn itzquiyehuitli tlacochquiyehuitli ye nelli ye on çan tlemimiyahuatl pixauhticacon ayac huel ye ihuic ye onmotlapalohua yyo ayya an ohuaya etcetera
Source Colophon
Source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, Biblioteca Nacional de México, sixteenth century. Transcription accessed via the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx). The manuscript transcription is made available by the Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Critical edition: Miguel León-Portilla et al., Cantares Mexicanos, 3 vols. (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México / Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, 2011). MS LXXVI spans folio 64v, sections 1321–1325, genre heading Xochicuicatl. Preceded by MS LXXV (Yaoxochicuicatl, concluding on 64v, §1320) and followed by MS LXXVII (Yaocuicatl ycuic in Motecuçomatzin, beginning on 64v, §1326). No section spans a folio boundary. This translation is complete.
No existing English translation was identified for this song. All English independently derived from Classical Nahuatl. The León-Portilla Spanish translation was consulted post-draft for morphological verification only.
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