Song XLVIII — From Inside the Sky
Song XLVIII is the Chalcayotl Xochicuicatl — the Chalca Flower Song — the second of the three genres announced in the Chalcayotl rubric at folio 31v. Where Song XLVII was a Yaocuicatl (War Song) — a sustained political accusation against the Giver of Life and the Triple Alliance for the destruction of Chalco — this song pivots entirely into the register of flower-and-song meditation. The manuscript marks it with the Roman numeral LII and the genre label Xochicuicatl (Flower Song). The shift is striking: from the bitter theological curse of section 604 ("May the Only God himself grow destitute") to the opening imperative of section 625 ("Work is nothing — come, rejoice with our song"). The conquered Chalca, having spoken their accusation, now speak their beauty.
The song spans thirty-two sections across folios 33v through 34v. Its structure unfolds in six movements: (I) The imperative to joy — work is nothing; come, rejoice; lift the quetzal-drum; scatter yellow flowers; raise a new song and let grief perish; but we came only to borrow on earth, and we will leave behind the good song (sections 625 through 629). (II) The song-flower sprouts, greens, swells, and blooms; dancing in the flower-house; the singer beats the jade drum and the golden drum of the Only God; named Chalca lords — Quauhatlapaltzin, Acxoquauhtzin, Tepanquizcatzin, Cohuatzin (sections 630 through 633). (III) The nobles within the turquoise circle — Ayoquatzin and Acxoquauhtzin — rejoice a little while; eagle-intertwined and jaguar-painted noble children savor the flowers; the great refrain "Never will the drum and song of the Giver of Life perish — but not forever on earth!"; every person wanders trusting, but only briefly the fragrant flower appears; the Giver of Life is asked "Where is your flower?" — let there be borrowing — we will leave it at Ximoayan (sections 634 through 639). (IV) Lineage trees — quetzal-willow, ceiba, cypress — upon which lord Cacamatl grew; Amaquemecan and Totolimpan grieve; the yellow-bird seeks the word of the Giver of Life in the quetzal-painted house; the rhetorical question "Is anyone before him? Does anyone know? I was born"; the cacao-flowers of the Only God spread in the book-house and butterfly-house (sections 640 through 645). (V) The singer selects God's song, joins it with jade and golden cascabels; birds — quetzal, tzinitzcan, tlauhquechol — paint the drum; the central theological question at section 648: "You priests, let me ask you — where does the intoxicating flower come from, the intoxicating song? It only comes from inside the sky"; the Only God seeks the corn-silk-flower; Tollan and Chalco named as God's home; the quetzal-bird speaks in song atop the jade pyramid; the flower-water rests in the jade-flower-house with the tzinitzcan (sections 646 through 651). (VI) The singer begins — corn-silk-flowers intertwine with the song beneath the izquixochitl trees; the cacao-flower dances at the drum; flowers rain inside the painted house; let us sing, let us delight the Giver of Life; the spring-flower has arrived — it glows — manifold flowers — your heart, your flesh, O God (sections 652 through 656).
The philosophical center of the song is the question at section 648, which gives the song its title. The singer addresses the priests directly — "You priests, let me ask you" — and poses the fundamental question of Nahua poetics: where does beauty come from? Where does the intoxicating flower, the intoxicating song, the good song originate? The answer is immediate and absolute: "It only comes from there, from his home — from inside the sky — from there the manifold flowers come." This is the theological complement to Song XLVII's accusation. Where the war song asked why the Giver of Life torments Chalco, the flower song answers that beauty — the only wealth that matters — descends from the divine interior. The two songs together form the complete Chalca voice: grief and wonder, accusation and praise, destruction and origin.
Key vocabulary: Xochicuicatl (flower song — xochitl + cuicatl; the genre of lyric-ceremonial poetry, songs of beauty and transience rather than war), teyhuinti xochitl (intoxicating flower — te + ihuinti + xochitl; the flower that intoxicates the people, making beauty a form of divine inebriation), ilhuicatl ytec (from inside the sky — ilhuicatl + i-tec; the divine interior from which all beauty descends), xiloxochitl (corn-silk-flower — xilotl + xochitl; the delicate flower of the young maize ear, symbol of tender growth and divine provision), cuicaxochitl (song-flower — cuicatl + xochitl; the compound image at the heart of Nahua aesthetics: song and flower as a single entity), Ipalnemohuani (the Giver of Life — "The One by Whom All Live"; in the Xochicuicatl the epithet is devotional rather than accusatory), a'nochipa tlalticpac (not forever on earth — the great Nahua refrain of transience: ah + nochipa + tlalticpac), quetzallacuilolcalli (quetzal-painted house — the hall where divine writing/painting is kept), papalocalitec (inside the butterfly-house — papalotl + calli + itec; the butterfly-house where beauty resides), amoxcalli (book-house — amoxtli + calli; the house of painted books, the archive of divine knowledge), Ximoayan (the place of the stripped/flayed — the afterlife realm where one is stripped bare), chalchiuhxochicalli (jade-flower-house — the divine dwelling), Cacamatl (a Chalca lord, named in the lineage-tree passage), Tollan (the mythic city of civilization and origin), Chalcon (in Chalco — placed alongside Tollan as "God's home").
Song XLVIII occupies folios 33v (sections 625 through 633, beginning after the Xochicuicatl genre header and the end of Song XLVII's final section 624), 34r (sections 633 through 645), and 34v (sections 645 through 656). Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform. The Cantares Mexicanos manuscript is held at the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
Xochicuicatl.
[sections 625–629 — Movement I: Let Work Be Nothing]
Work is nothing —
come, rejoice with our song,
our song, O friends!
We take up the quetzal-drum,
we scatter it, we shake out
the yellow flowers.
[section 626]
Again new our song —
we raise it here.
Again new our flower
rests in our hands.
Let there be rejoicing,
O friends!
Let displeasure
and our grief perish.
[section 627]
Let no one grieve,
let no one brood
upon the earth —
behold, here are our flowers
and our good song.
Let there be rejoicing!
Let displeasure
and our sorrow perish.
[section 628]
Only here, O friends,
we came to borrow
upon the earth.
We will leave behind
the good song —
we will leave behind
the flowers.
[section 629]
Therefore I grieve —
for your song,
O Giver of Life.
We will leave behind
the good song.
[sections 630–633 — Movement II: The Song-Flower Sprouts]
The flower sprouts,
it greens,
it swells,
it blooms —
from you the song-flower
comes forth.
Upon the people
we scatter it,
we spread it —
I am the singer.
[section 631]
Come, rejoice, O friends!
Let there be dancing
in the flower-house.
There I sing —
I the singer.
[section 632]
I beat here your jade drum,
the golden drum —
of God,
the Giver of Life,
the lord,
the Only God.
[section 633]
Only here we rejoice —
the spirit of the noble children
comes forth:
Quauhatlapaltzin,
Acxoquauhtzin,
Tepanquizcatzin,
Cohuatzin lord.
[sections 634–639 — Movement III: A Little While Yet Here]
Within the turquoise circle
you were standing, O nobles —
Ayoquatzin,
Acxoquauhtzin —
a little while yet here.
Come, rejoice!
[section 635]
Eagle-intertwined,
jaguar-painted
the noble children stand —
let the flowers be savored.
A little while yet here.
[section 636]
Never —
never will the drum
and song of the Giver of Life
perish.
Rejoice, my noble child, you —
but not forever on earth!
[section 637]
Whom shall we leave behind,
tomorrow, the next day?
Gladden the eagle
and the jaguar.
Our shroud is only
in the flower-place.
[section 638]
Every person
wanders trusting
here on earth.
Only briefly
the good, the fragrant flower
appears before us.
[section 639]
The Giver of Life —
where is your flower,
your wealth,
your hand-flower,
the quetzal-izquixochitl?
Let there be borrowing on earth.
Can we carry it
to your home?
We will leave it behind
at Ximoayan.
[sections 640–645 — Movement IV: The Lineage Trees]
Quetzal-willow,
ceiba,
cypress —
upon them you grew,
you lord —
Cacamatl lord.
It sprouts,
it swells —
and your mountain rises.
[section 641]
Amaquemecan,
Totolimpan —
your heart grows sad,
O Giver of Life.
Perhaps they came forth,
they sprouted —
the noble children,
the Chichimec lord Ayoquan,
the priest,
the White Eagle.
[section 642]
The yellow-bird goes,
goes to the quetzal-painted house.
There you enrich yourself,
there you seek his word —
the word of the Giver of Life,
God.
[section 643]
Is anyone before him?
Does anyone know?
I was born —
my god,
the Giver of Life,
God.
[section 644]
The flower circles
inside the book-house,
inside the butterfly-house.
It is painted upon the earth,
it scatters —
your song scatters,
your word.
Only cacao-flowers spread —
our Father,
the Only God,
the Giver of Life.
[section 645]
Manifold your quechol-butterfly
inside the butterfly-house —
we speak in song.
[sections 646–651 — Movement V: From Inside the Sky]
I only select your song —
I join it with jade,
I join it with bracelets.
Golden cascabels lie strewn.
Spread yourselves,
you beside us, lord —
your wealth is the flower.
[section 647]
I the quetzal from over there,
the tzinitzcan,
the tlauhquechol —
with these you paint your drum
on earth.
Your wealth is only
the flower.
[section 648]
You priests,
let me ask you —
where does the intoxicating flower
come from,
the intoxicating song,
the good song?
It only comes from there,
from his home —
from inside the sky.
From there the manifold flowers come.
[section 649]
The Only God,
the Giver of Life,
seeks the corn-silk-flower —
where it scatters.
The quechol atop the flowers
speaks,
delights,
and teaches.
[section 650]
Tollan, Chalco —
God's home.
The quetzal-grackle speaks,
the tlauhquechol-grackle.
Atop the jade pyramid
it speaks in song —
the quetzal-bird.
[section 651]
The flower-water rests
in the jade-flower-house.
The quetzal-feathered one
has arrived —
the tzinitzcan
with flowers intertwined.
Within it sang,
within it spoke —
the quetzal-bird.
[sections 652–656 — Movement VI: The Singer Begins]
If I begin —
I the singer —
corn-silk-flowers
intertwine with my song.
The izquixochitl trees stand.
[section 653]
The cacao-flower buds —
it dances at the drum,
it walks,
it goes about in delight —
it opens wide.
[section 654]
I have heard our Father, God —
in the jade gourd,
quetzal-covered,
turquoise-bracelet-encircled.
Flowers rain
inside the painted house.
[section 655]
Let us still sing,
O noble children —
let us still delight
the Giver of Life.
The quetzal-painted
flower song stands.
[section 656]
The flower has arrived —
the spring-flower.
It glows.
Manifold flowers —
your heart,
your flesh,
O God.
Colophon
Song XLVIII of the Cantares Mexicanos, folios 33v–34v, sections 625–656 (thirty-two sections). The Chalcayotl Xochicuicatl — Chalca Flower Song — manuscript number LII. Second of the three Chalca genres announced at folio 31v.
The song opens with one of the most striking imperatives in the manuscript: Çannen tequitl — "Work is nothing." This is not laziness but philosophy: the only real activity is song and flower, the only real wealth is beauty, and the only real source of both is ilhuicatl ytec — "from inside the sky." The singer invites the community to lift the quetzal-drum, scatter yellow flowers, raise a new song, and let grief perish. The transience theme enters immediately at section 628 — "Only here, friends, we came to borrow upon the earth" — and deepens throughout.
The central passage is section 648, which gives the song its title. The singer addresses the teopixque (priests, keepers of the gods) with a direct question: can ompa yehuitz teyhuinti xochitl teyhuinti cuicatl — "where does the intoxicating flower come from, the intoxicating song?" The answer — ilhuicatl ytec — "from inside the sky" — is the theological heart of the Nahua flower-song tradition. Beauty is not human invention but divine descent.
Named figures: Quauhatlapaltzin (Eagle-Wing), Acxoquauhtzin, Tepanquizcatzin, Cohuatzin (sections 633–634) — Chalca lords who rejoice. Ayoquatzin (sections 634, 641) — also mourned in Song XLVII. Cacamatl (section 640) — a lord figured as growing upon lineage trees (willow, ceiba, cypress). The White Eagle / Quauhtliztac (section 641) — possibly a title rather than a personal name.
Chalco and Tollan (section 650): the singer places Chalco alongside the mythic city of Tollan as Dios ichan — "God's home." This is a remarkable assertion of sacred geography: Chalco, destroyed and absorbed in Song XLVII, is here declared co-equal with Tollan as a dwelling of the divine. The Chalca reclaim their city through beauty rather than war.
The colonial-syncretic register is present but light: Dios (God) appears at sections 632, 642–644, 648, 650, 654, 656; totatzin (our Father) at sections 644, 654. The Nahua theological vocabulary (Ipalnemohuani, Ycelteotl, Ipalnemoa) runs throughout, with the Christian terms serving as equivalences rather than displacements.
Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl via the UNAM TEMOA transcription of the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis, Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico). Lexical verification via Molina's Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana (1571) and Karttunen's Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (1983). No existing English translation was consulted or followed. This is the first free literary English translation of this song.
Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribed by Cuicani.
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Source Text
Cantares Mexicanos, folios 33v–34v, sections 625–656. Nahuatl text from the UNAM TEMOA digital transcription.
§625 Çannen tequitl y yca xonahuiacan tocuic tocuic y antocnihua huiya tihuelincui ya moquetzal yhuehueuh ticyamoyahua ya ticyatzetzeloa ya coçahuia xochitl ohuaye yia yyeha ohuaya
§626 Ye no yancuic in tocuic tic ehua ye nica ye no yancuic in toxochiuh tomac onmaniqui ma ic onahuielo antocnihua huiya ma ica ompolihuin tellel in totlayocol yiaoo yiahue ayia ayiaa ohuaya
§627 Macac tlaocoya macac quelnamiqui in tlalticpac ayiahue izca in toxochiuh yhuan in yectli yan tocuic ma ic onahuieloma ica ompolihuin tellel in totlaocol etcetera
§628 Çanio nican in antocnihuan tontotlanehuico in tlalticpac y ticcauhtehuazque yectli yan cuicatl y ticauhtehuazque yhuan in xochitl a ohuaya
§629 Yca nitlaocoya yehuaya ye mocuic o Ipalnemohuani ticcauhtehuazque yectli yan cuicatl y
§630 Ytzmolini xochitl celia mimilihui cueponi yeehuaya mitecpa onquiça in cuicaxochitl in tepan tictzetzeloa ticyamoyahua ya ticuicanitl etcetera
§631 Ohuaya ohuaya ohuaya anahue xonahuiaca huiya antocnihua yyehuaya ma onnetotilo y xochincalitec y onca ye noncuica nicuicanitl y ohuaya ohuaya
§632 Nictzotzona nican mochalchiuhuehueuh teocuitlahuehuetl yehuan Dios Ypalnemoani in tlatoani a Ycelteotl a ohuaya ohuaya
§633 Çan nican tonahuiya yehuaya imellel onquiça a in tepilhuan ayahue Quauhatlapaltzin aya a in tAcxoquauhtzin Tepanquizcatzin aya Cohuatzi teuctli ya ohuaya
§634 Xiuhteyahualitec y oncan amonmania a in tecpipilti Ayoquatzi çan tAcxoquauhtzi oc achica ye nica ma xonahuiacan ohuaya
§635 An quaauhnenelihui oceloihcuiliuhtimanique in tepilhuan ayahue maça y ic xochiuh onchichinalo yehua oc achica ye nica ohuaya
§636 O ahquenman aya ahquenman polihuiz in ihuehueuh in icuic o yn Ipalnemoa xonahuia nopiltzi tehuatzi ohuiya a'nochipa tlalticpac ohuiya
§637 Ac ticcahuazque in moztla huiptla xiquimonahuilti in quauhtlocelo ye ye tonequimilol çan can ye xochitla ohuaya
§638 Ye mochi tlacatl y ontlaneltocatinemi nican tlalticpac ayahue çan achica yectli tixpan quiça ahuiac xochitl ohuaya
§639 Yn Ipalnemoa catli ya moxochiuh monecuiltonol momacxochiuh quetzalizquixochitl ma onnetlanehuilon tlalticpac y mach ticyaitquizque onca ye mochan huiya ticcauhtehuazque Ximoa yehua ohuaye
§640 Quetzalhuexotl çan can pochotl huiya in ahuehuetl aya ipan timochiuhtehuac in titeuctli yehua in Cacamatl on teuctli ye itzmolinia ye totomolihuia mauh motepeuh aya
§641 Amaquemecan huiya Totolimpan aye ohuaya ça ye icnotlamati moyollon Ipalnemoa aço quiçaco oitzmolinico a in tepilhuan y chichimecatl teuctlin tAyoqua ohuaya huiya in teohua in Quauhtliztac a ohuaya
§642 Toztli huiliuh yahuiya in quetzallacuilolcalli o tanca tonmotlamachtia y in oncan tocontemolia itlatol aya in Ipalnemoa yehuan Dios y ayaho amayie o ayahue huia a ylili ahuayia yiaha ohuaya
§643 Ach ancac ixpan in ach ancac imatia nitlacato i noteouh Ypalnemoa yehuan Dios y ayao amayiee etcetera
§644 Xochitl yahualihuiya amoxcalitec y papalocalitec y tlalla ycuilihuiya moyahua mocuic moyahuaya motlatol çan cacahuantoc yin totatzin Ycelteotl Ypalnemoani ohuaya
§645 Nepapan in moquechol papalotl papalocalitec y tiyaontlatoa y yatantalili o ayiahue huaya a ylili ahuayia iyaha ohuaya
§646 Çan nocontlapehpenia mocuic ohuaye nichalchiuhnepanoa yeehuaya nicmaquiznepanoan teocuitlachacallotoc ica ximapanan tehuayan pale y ça ye monecuiltonol y xochitl a ohuaya
§647 Yn nehuihuin quetzallin mocohuicpa huiya tzinitzcan ye tlauhquechol aya ica ticuiloa mohuehueuh in tlalticpac y can ye monecuiltonol y xochitl a ohuaya
§648 Yn anteopixque y man nemechtlatlani e can ompa yehuitz teyhuinti xochitl teyhuinti cuicatl yyectlon cuicatl y çan ca ompa ye huitz yn ichan ohuaye ilhuicatl ytec y çan ca ychampa ye huitz nepapan xochitl a ohuaya
§649 Y ye ye quitemohuia in Icelteotl in ipaltinemi xiloxochitl can moyahua yehua eloquechol huiya xochiticpac ye tlatoa mahahuilia ca ye temachtia y ohuaya
§650 Tollan Chalcon Dios ichan huiya quetzaltzanatlatoa tlauhquecholtzanatl y chalchiuhtetzaqualticpac cuicantlatoa ya çan quetzaltototl huiya aye aye ayyanco yanco yia yie ahuaya onco aye ahuaya ha ohuaya
§651 Xochatl ymanca chalchiuhxochicalitec quetzalpoyon acica çan tzinitzcan ye xochitica yhuan malintocnepaniuhtoc ayiahue ytec oncuicaya ytec ontlatoaya çan quetzaltototl huiya aye aye ayanco etcetera
§652 Tla nipehua o nicuicanitl huiya xilochinepanihui oo nocuic yyeehuaya izquixochitlquahuitla icacan ohuaye ahuayyo ohuayia yiaha etcetera
§653 Cacahuaxochinpeyon o ye mitotia huehuetitlan ye nemi ahuiaxtinemi xelihui yehuaya etcetera
§654 A onicac in totatzin yehuan Dios huiya chalchiuhxicalco quetzalpachiuhticac y anca xihuitl maquizyhcuixticac aya xochinpihpixahuia tlacuilolcalitec y ahuayyo etcetera
§655 Yn ma oc toncuicaca antepilhua huiya yn ma oc ticahuilti yn Ipalnemoa onquetzalycuiliuhtimani xochicuicatl y ahuayyo etcetera
§656 Ono yecoc xochitl xopanixochitl totonatimani ehuaya nepapan y xochitl moyollo monacayo yehuan Dios a ohuaya
Source text from the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis), Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico. Digital transcription accessed via UNAM TEMOA (temoa.iib.unam.mx). The Cantares Mexicanos manuscript dates to approximately 1585–1595 and preserves pre-Columbian and early colonial Nahua songs. The text is reproduced from the UNAM transcription with minimal editorial intervention; scribal notations and vocables are preserved.
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