Song XV — XVI (Flower-Death in the Plain)

The manuscript heading on folio 9r is simply XVI — a bare Roman numeral, no sub-title. After the extended, multi-register complexity of Song XIV, this song is short and compressed: nine sections, two folios, one arc.

The arc moves from grief to philosophy to the warrior's death-wish. The first two sections establish a world in pain — earth and mountain lamenting, lords turning to smoke, the earth heading toward the underworld. A named lord, Cacamatl, appears once and passes without explanation. Then the singer turns inward (§§115–116): he walks his heart upon the earth, inscribes it, insists he is not yet headed to Quenonamican — the Place of No Return. But in the same breath he meditates on prayer to the Ycelteotl*, the Only God, and concludes that one truly does live in the Place of No Return, in the sky, and there alone is joy.*

The second half (§§117–121) pivots completely. Shield-flowers burst open. Lords turn to smoke. In the burning plain, amid swirling battle-dust, the singer arrives at xochimiquiztli — flower-death, the warrior's willing sacrifice in battle. "Let my heart not fear." "I long for flower-death." In the final image, clouds rise, spring opens, and eagle-jaguar warriors burst into bloom.

Song XV spans folios 9r–9v, sections 113–121. 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.

Earth and mountain are in pain here.
The whole world laments.
ohuaya

How will they manage it?
The water smokes —
the lord is harmed.
The earth turns toward the underworld.
So it seems.
Ah — Lord Cacamatl —
how will they manage it?
ohuaya

I have been full of grief
over all that I say, my friends —
I go walking my heart upon the earth,
I go inscribing it.
As long as we live here —
at ease, in a good place, in joy,
among people —
by this I will not lead myself
to the Place of No Return.
ohuaya

Truly my heart knows.
Truly I say to you, my friends:
whoever prays to the Only God,
to the inside of his heart —
he is answered.
Is there no place on earth?
Will one not be born twice?
Truly one lives in the Place of No Return,
in the sky — only there is joy.
ohuaya

It rings out!
Lords go turning to smoke —
the delight of God, the Giver of Life.
Shield-flowers burst open.
Glory spreads and moves
across the earth here,
in the place of flower-death,
in the heart of the plain.
ohuaya

There in battle,
where combat begins,
in the heart of the plain —
dust goes swirling, turning and circling —
with flower-war-death,
you nobles, you lords —
only Chichimeca!
ohuaya

Let my heart not fear.
There in the midst of the plain
I long for obsidian-death —
this is what our heart desires:
war-death.
ohuaya

You who are out there in battle —
I long for obsidian-death.
This is what our heart desires:
war-death.
ohuaya

Clouds go rising.
Spring opens — the Giver of Life.
There eagle-jaguar warriors burst into bloom.
You nobles —
in the burning plain.
ohuaya

Colophon

Song XV of the Cantares Mexicanos carries the manuscript heading XVI on folio 9r — a bare Roman numeral with no sub-title, following directly from Song XIV. It is one of the shorter songs in the early folios: nine sections (§§113–121) spanning two folios (9r–9v), with the final section completing on 9v just before the manuscript heading XVII appears.

On sections 113–114 (the grief-opening): Tlacocoa ye nican tlalli tepetl — "earth and mountain are in pain here" — is an address to the world itself. Cemanahuac (the whole world, literally "the surrounded land") is the subject of collective lament. Section 114 introduces atl popoca — "the water smokes" — which is the second element of the ancient kenning atl-tlachinolli (water-burning = war): the two elements of war, water and fire, named separately here before the full compound appears in §121 (tlachinolehuaya = "rising from the burning plain"). Ytlacoh in teuctli — "the lord is harmed/damaged" — names a wound; the lord in question may be the Cacamatl of the following phrase. Cacamatl (Diminutive of Cacamatzin, "little ear-of-corn") is attested as a Nahua noble name; the most historically prominent bearer is Cacamatzin, lord of Texcoco, who was seized by Cortés in 1520 and later killed. Whether this is that Cacamatl or another cannot be determined from the song alone.

On sections 115–116 (the philosophical center): These two sections form the philosophical pivot of the song. Section 115 ends with a declaration: yc ahnonnohuicallan in Quenonamican — "by this I will not lead myself to the Place of No Return." The singer affirms earthly life as something he inscribes, walks with, holds. But section 116 immediately undercuts this: Ye nelli nemohua in Quenonamican ylhuicatly ytec — "Truly one lives in the Place of No Return, in the sky." The contradiction is deliberate. Quenonamican is not only death; it is the destination beyond death that becomes the only place of real joy (netlamachtilo). The questions in §116 — "Is there no place on earth? Will one not be born twice?" — are embedded in the singer's meditation, posed as doubts the heart circles around. The Ycelteotl, the Only God (ycel = alone, only; teotl = god/sacred force), appears here as the divine being to whom prayer is addressed: not the Ipalnemohuani (Giver of Life, the sustaining deity of the flower-songs) but a singular, absolute divine unity. The phrase yiollo ytlahco — "the inside of his heart" — designates the innermost sacred space; prayer that reaches there is answered (conayamacay).

On sections 117–121 (the warrior-turn): With Oyohualli ihcahuacan — "It rings out!" — the song pivots from philosophy to the battlefield. Teuctlin popoca (lords turning to smoke) echoes §113's grief but now resolves it: the smoke of lords is the delight of God. Chimalli xochitl (shield-flowers) is the standard compound for war-beauty — the flower that grows on the shield, the beauty of a warrior's death. Xochimicohuayan — "the place of flower-death" — is the battlefield understood as the garden where warriors flower into death. Xochimiquiztli (flower-death) is among the most important concepts in Nahua warrior philosophy: death in sacrifice or battle as the highest flourishing, the flower opening fully. Section 119 states the longing directly: noconelehuia in itzimiquiztli — "I long for obsidian-death." Itzimiquiztli derives from itzli (obsidian) and names death by the blade — the warrior's death in sacrifice. It is related to but distinct from xochimiquiztli (flower-death): both describe the warrior's willing sacrifice, but xochimiquiztli foregrounds the beauty of the death-as-flowering, while itzimiquiztli foregrounds the weapon. The Cantares use both in this song: §117 uses xochimicohuayan (the place of flower-death), while §§119–120 use itzimiquiztli/itzimiquiliztli (obsidian-death). The prior rendering "flower-death" for itzimiquiztli in §§119–120 was a conflation. Sections 119 and 120 repeat the warrior's longing in different voices. Section 121 closes the song with the image of clouds rising (mixtli ehuatimani) and spring opening (moxoxopan): the quauhtli-ocelotl (eagle-jaguar warriors) celiztimani — "burst open/bloom" — in the burning plain (tlachinolehuaya). The blooming of warriors in the field of battle is the song's final image.

The translation was made from Classical Nahuatl, consulting Alonso de Molina's Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana (1571) and Frances Karttunen's Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl for lexical verification. No existing English translation of the Cantares Mexicanos was used as source or guide; the English is independently derived.

Translated from Classical Nahuatl and compiled for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Song XV — Sections 113–121 (Folios 9r–9v)

Classical Nahuatl source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, Biblioteca Nacional de México. Transcription accessed via the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Embedded scholarly footnote markers from the critical edition have been removed.

(XVI)

[Section 113, folio 9r]

Tlacocoa ye nican tlalli tepetl ye cocolilo ya cemanahuac a ohuaya etcetera

[Section 114, folio 9r]

Quennel conchihuazque atl popoca ytlacoh in teuctli tlalli mocuepa ya Mictlan onmati a Cacamatl on teuctli quennel conchihuazque ohuaya ohuaya

[Section 115, folio 9r]

O nonellelacic quexquich nicya yttoac antocnihuan a yiaue noconnenemititica noyollon tlalticpac y noconycuilotica a yn iuhcan tinemi ahuian yeccan ay cemellecan in tenahuac yc ahnonnohuicallan in Quenonamican ohuaya etcetera

[Section 116, folio 9r]

Çan nellin quimati ye noyollo ça nelli nic yttoac antocnihua ayiahue aquin quitlatlauhtia Ycelteotl yiollo ytlahco ca conayamacay Mach amo oncan in tlalticpac mach amo oppan piltihua Ye nelli nemohua in Quenonamican ylhuicatly ytec y canyio oncan in netlamachtilo y ohuaya etcetera

[Section 117, folio 9r]

Oyohualli ihcahuacan teuctlin popoca ahuiltilon Dios Ypalnemohuani chimalli xochitl in cuecuepontimani mahuiztli moteca molinian tlalticpac ye nican yc xochimicohuayan in ixtlahuac itec a ohuaya ohuaya

[Section 118, folio 9r]

Yaonauac ye oncan yaopeuhca in ixtlahuac itec y teuhtlin popoca ya milacatzoa y momalacachoa yaoxochimimiquiztica antepilhuan in anteteuctin çan chichimeca y ohuaya etcetera

[Section 119, folio 9r]

Maca mahui noyollo ye oncan ixtlahuatl ytic noconelehuia in itzimiquiztli çan quinequin toyollo yaomiquiztla ohuaya etcetera

[Section 120, folio 9r]

O anquin ye oncan yaonahuac noconelehuia in itzimiquiliztli can quinequin toyollo yaomiquiztla ohuaya ohuaya

[Section 121, folios 9r–9v]

Mixtli ye ehuatimani yehuaya moxoxopan Ipalnemohuani yc oncan celiztimani a in quauhtlin ocelotl ye oncan cuepo ni oo in tepilhuan huiya in tlachinolehuaya 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). Song XV carries manuscript heading XVI (folio 9r), sections 113–121. Section 121 begins on folio 9r and completes on folio 9v. Source text is complete for the full song.

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