Song XXVIII — XXX (Let the Drum Rise)

Song XXVIII carries manuscript heading XXX and spans twenty-two sections across folios 20v through 21v (§§344–365). It belongs to the largest grief-and-drum tradition within the Cantares: a song in which the drum is raised, weeping spreads before the Giver of Life, and noble lords — Chichimec and Mexica — are summoned into the sorrow of borrowed life.

The song moves in three arcs. The first (§§344–351) establishes the drum as the site of both rejoicing and grief: princes are told to be glad, but immediately weeping pours out. Moteucçoma is invoked as the eagle-jaguar who wraps warriors in glory and sends them to the plain. Then the register shifts to elegy: the shield-flower withers, princes borrow it, no one will end the going-to-Quenonamican.

The second arc (§§352–361) names three lords by name — Chimalpopocatzin, Acolmitzin, Tizahuatzin — and calls them to weep and raise the drum. The grief is answered by war: the shield-whirlwind spins, dust rises like smoke in Tenochtitlan. Battle-houses and eagle-mats and jaguar-mats appear. A Chichimec figure, Tlaixtoctzin, weeps at God's beautiful flower that torments. The war-flowers — jaguar-flower, eagle-corn-flower — open in someone's hand. We are afflicted; let us die thus. The singer breaks through: just here I begin, just here I dance, my heart blooms.

The third arc (§§362–365) closes on Ahuitzotl. The lord of Tenochtitlan (r. 1486–1502) appears twice: like eagles and jaguars the nobility revives under him; the Giver of Life strings war-flowers as necklaces for Acolhuacan, Nezahualpilli, Totoquihuatzin — by arrows and shields Ahuitzotl governs. Then the final quatrain: already I am sad, I weep, who is happy? The shield-flowers spread and rise. My heart only wants to see it. And the last word of the song: nothing is like death in war, nothing is like the flower-death. The Giver of Life loved it.

The Chichimec identity runs through the song as a thread: §348 addresses Chichimec noble children; §356 names a weeping Chichimec; §349 lists a series of Acolhua/Chichimec lords — Motlatocazomatzin, Chahuacueye, Cueyatzi, Ihuitzin, Xaltemoctzin, Quihnatzin, Tzihuacpopocatzin — who have seen and been recognized by their lord. The Acolhua lineage of Texcoco claimed Chichimec descent; this song appears to be a Texcocan-affiliated grief song performed in the presence of, or in praise of, Ahuitzotl's imperial court.

Song XXVIII spans folios 20v–21v, sections 344–365. 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.

Let the drum rise,
you princes —
but here, rejoice
before the Giver of Life.
yohuiya.

Weeping spreads;
tears scatter,
pouring at the place of the drum,
here before the Giver of Life.
yohuiya.

He shakes like an eagle,
moves like a jaguar —
the prince Moteucçoma
wraps them in glory.
Go out now to the plain!
yohuiya.

Many eagles,
many jaguars,
many noble children —
he gives them heart,
Moteucçoma wraps them.
Go out now to the plain!
ohuiya.

It sets hearts right —
the clay-flower,
the feather-flower —
it gives hearts joy.
Here the eagle-flower,
for you, Chichimec noble children.

Motlatocazomatzin,
Chahuacueye, Cueyatzi, Ihuitzin —
truly you have seen Xaltemoctzin.
Truly he knows you,
lord Quihnatzin,
Tzihuacpopocatzin.
ohuaya.

Only a little more
will he grow weary.
The shield-flower withers —
you borrow it,
you princes.
yyao, ayyaha, ohuaya, ohuaya.

No one will end it —
with this we will go
to Quenonamican.
We are forgotten on earth.
Here you borrow it,
you princes.
yyao.

Weep, Chimalpopocatzin!
You, Acolmitzin!
You, Tizahuatzin!
Raise our drum —
let our pain come out,
let it be thus with our grief.
ohuiya, ohuaya, ohuaya.

Who is the singer?
Let him sound our drum again —
let our sorrow come out,
let it be thus with our sadness.
ha.

The shield-whirlwind spins;
dust rises like smoke;
there is whistling,
there is clamor
in Tenochtitlan, in Mexico,
here!
ohuaya.

Where the shield-houses stand,
at the battle-house —
where the eagle-mat lies,
where the jaguar-mat lies —
war is carried there,
the battle-flower is blown.
Your flower, Chimalpopocatzin —
but truly, truly,
it will never cool,
it will never perish.
ohuiya.

The Chichimec weeps with this.
Where is Tlaixtoctzin?
The beautiful flower of God,
Giver of Life —
with it you torment them.
The hearts of the noble children ache.
How will they do it?
ohuaya.

The war-flower opens wide;
the shield-izquixochitl
is in my hand.
He enjoys the flower —
jaguar-flower,
eagle-corn-flower —
only he torments them.
How will they do it?
ohuaya.

We are afflicted —
let us die thus,
let it be so.
Let our friends not speak of us,
let not the eagles,
let not the jaguars rebuke us.
ohuaya.

How will you do it well?
How will you take them —
the flowers of the Giver of Life?
They are taken in vain,
not in the dangerous place,
the fearful place,
the awesome plain.
ohuaya.

Just here I begin,
I the singer.
By my heart flowers bloom,
beautiful songs —
with them I cool
the Giver of Life.
ohuaya.

Here I dance,
I the singer.
By my heart flowers bloom,
beautiful songs —
with them I cool
the Giver of Life.
ohuaya.

Like eagles they revive,
like jaguars they bud —
the nobility, the lordship
of Mexico.
By arrows, by shields
speaks the lord Ahuitzotl.
ohuaya.

May your flowers truly not be taken,
Giver of Life.
Dust rises like smoke
in the heart of the plain.
You strung them as necklaces —
the battle-flowers —
you adorned Acolhuacan
with shield-flowers,
Nezahualpilli, Totoquihuatzin.
By arrows, by shields
speaks the lord Ahuitzotl.
ohuaya.

Already I am sad,
I weep —
who is happy?
Already the shield-flowers
spread and rise.
Only I want to see it —
my heart wants it.
ohuaya.

Nothing is like death in war,
nothing is like the flower-death.
The Giver of Life loved it.
Only I want to see it —
my heart wants it.
ohuaya.

Colophon

Song XXVIII (manuscript heading XXX) of the Cantares Mexicanos, translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Source: UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The song spans folios 20v–21v, sections 344–365 (twenty-two sections). It follows Song XXVII (MS XXIX, §§338–343) directly on folio 20v; Song XXIX (MS XXXI) begins at §366 on folio 21v.

Philological notes:

§344 — moquetza huehuetl: "The drum rises/stands." Moquetza is the reflexive form of quetza (to raise, to stand up), and huehuetl is the vertical, skin-headed drum — the heartbeat of ceremonial performance. The drum "rising" is both a physical action (being set upright) and a command for the song to begin. The contradiction in §§344–345 — "rejoice" followed immediately by "weeping" — is deliberate: the drum gathers both joy and grief without resolving them.

§346–347 — Moteucçoma: Moteucçoma appears here in his warrior avatar, "shaking like an eagle, moving like a jaguar" and wrapping (tequimiloaya) the noble children. Tequimiloaya is from tequimilo = to wrap or envelop; in ceremonial contexts it implies the bestowal of warrior identity and rank. The command xiyaontlamatican yxtlahuatl ytec ("go know it into the plain") is a martial send-off — the plain (ixtlahuatl) is the battlefield.

§348 — tiçaxochitl / yhuixochitl: Two ritual flower types. Tiçaxochitl = chalk/white-clay flower (tiçatl + xochitl) — a white flower used in purification and funerary contexts. Yhuixochitl = feather-flower — possibly the Plumeria rubra (frangipani) or another flower whose petals resemble feathers. Together they "set hearts right" (teyolmelauh) — the verb suggests both straightening and cleansing. The section ends addressing "Chichimec noble children," explicitly marking the Texcocan/Acolhua register of the song.

§349 — lord-catalogue: Seven lords are named in a single breath: Motlatocazomatzin, Chahuacueye, Cueyatzi, Ihuitzin (with cross-reference to §356), Xaltemoctzin, Quihnatzin, Tzihuacpopocatzin. These appear to be Acolhua or Chichimec-aligned lords, likely of Texcoco and its satellites; the formulaic structure — "truly you have seen / truly he knows you" — is the recognition between lord and retainer that generates the song's witness-relationship. Ihuitzin's name incorporates a scribal cross-reference (to §356), indicating he is the figure who weeps in that section.

§350 — Çan achican tlatzihuiz: "Only a little more will he grow weary." Tlatzihuiz from tlatzihui (to be weary, to grow slack). The "little more" of endurance before exhaustion is the same compressed time-frame the Cantares repeatedly invokes — life is brief, borrowed, about to end. The "shield-flower" (chimalli xochitl) that withers here is the warrior's flower, the beauty of combat that cannot be held.

§352 — Chimalpopocatzin, Acolmitzin, Tizahuatzin: Three lords summoned to weep. Chimalpopocatzin = "Smoking Shield" (honorific -tzin). This is not the historical tlatoani Chimalpopoca (d. 1426) but a later Acolhua or Mexica noble; the -tzin suffix indicates high rank. Acolmitzin = "Leg of Acolhuacan" or "Strong-Thigh" — an Acolhua lord. Tizahuatzin = "Chalk-Crier" or similar — the chalk (tiçatl) in the name echoes §348's chalk-flower.

§354 — Chimalehcamalacotl: A compound: chimalli (shield) + ehecamalacotl (wind-spindle, whirlwind). The full word is "shield-whirlwind" — the spinning formation of shield-bearing warriors, or possibly the spinning of a shield itself in the air as a battle signal. Momalacachoa = "it spins/whirls" (from malacachoa, to spin like a spindle). Together the image is the battlefield as a whirling spindle of shields, from which smoke-dust rises.

§355 — quauhpetlatl / ocelopetlatl: Eagle-mat and jaguar-mat — the woven reed mats used as seats of power by eagle and jaguar warriors. To lie on the eagle-mat is to hold the rank and identity of an eagle warrior. The battle-house (tla'chinolcalico, from tlachinolli = burning/battle) is where these mats are kept. Ayc cehuiz y ayc polihuiz = "it will never cool, it will never perish" — an affirmation of permanent glory, unusual in the Cantares' usual vocabulary of loss.

§356 — Tlaixtoctzin: "Lord Ixtloc" or "Lord Faceward" (ixtli = face; toca = to follow/to face). A Chichimec or Acolhua lord whose cross-reference connects him to Ihuitzin from §349. The phrase yectli yxochiuh Dios Ypalnemohua ("the beautiful flower of God, Giver of Life") uses the colonial syncretism already familiar from earlier Cantares songs: Dios (Spanish "God") inserted as a name or title alongside the indigenous Ypalnemohuani.

§357 — chimalizquixochitl: Shield-izquixochitl. Izquixochitl (Bourreria huanita) is a white-flowered tree whose blossoms were used in offerings and had a distinctive sweet scent. As a "shield-flower" it becomes the flower of the warrior held in the poet's hand — both beautiful and associated with death.

§359 — ohuican mahuizcan mahuizpan ixtlahuacan: Three near-synonymous locatives of danger and reverence: ohuican = in the difficult/dangerous place; mahuizcan = in the fearful/marvelous place (mahui = to fear/to marvel); mahuizpan = before/in the presence of the marvelous; ixtlahuacan = in the plain. The four-fold location piles up to describe the battlefield as simultaneously terrifying and sacred.

§360–361 — singer's pivot: These two sections are paired (beginning/dancing) and mark the song's only first-person turn away from grief toward creative act. Noconehcapehuian = "I cool/freshen" — from hecapehua (to fan, to cause wind, to refresh). The singer "cools" the Giver of Life with song and dance as a fanning action — a remarkable image of poetry as sacred service.

§362 — Ahuitzotl: Eighth huey tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, r. 1486–1502. Known for aggressive military expansion and the massive dedication ceremony of the Templo Mayor (1487). Onquahuicecelia = "like eagles they take fresh life" — quauhtli (eagle) + cecelia (to take fresh, to revive). Oceloitzmolini = "like jaguars they sprout/bud" — ocelotl (jaguar) + itzmolini (to sprout, to bud). The nobility under Ahuitzotl is depicted not as dying but regenerating — an unusual counterpoint to the grief-mode of the rest of the song.

§363 — tiquincozcati: "You strung them as necklaces" — cozcatl (necklace, precious thing) + causative suffix. The Giver of Life strings the war-flowers and battle-flowers as ornaments for Acolhuacan and its lords — this is the divine consecration of warfare as jewelry, as sacred adornment. The Triple Alliance lords — Ahuitzotl (Mexica), Nezahualpilli (Acolhua/Texcoco), Totoquihuatzin (Tlacopan) — all appear in §§362–363, closing the song with the full imperial horizon.

§365 — xochimiquiztli: The flower-death — death in ritual warfare or sacrifice. The slain warrior was understood to accompany the sun on its daily journey and to return after four years as a hummingbird or butterfly. A'tle iuhqui yaomiquiztli a'tle iuhquin xochimiquiztli — "nothing is like war-death, nothing is like flower-death" — is one of the most direct affirmations of warrior eschatology in the Cantares. The closing couplet "can nic ittaz quinequi noyol" ("only I want to see it — my heart wants it") returns to the singer's personal voice from §§360–361, now turned not toward song but toward death itself as the ultimate flower.

Cross-references: §348 → §354; §349 → §356; §359 → §363, §364; §360 → §367; §362 → (no explicit ref); §364 → §370; §365 → §371. These scribal markers indicate refrain-sharing with Song XXIX (MS XXXI, beginning §366) and later songs. Song XXVIII is embedded in a performance network spanning at least through §378 (Song XXX, MS XXXII).

Source text note: The Nahuatl of §§344–351 was accessed from UNAM TEMOA folio 20v; §§352–364 from folio 21r; §365 from folio 21v. Section §352 is split across folios 20v and 21r (marked "[21r=]" in TEMOA). The Nahuatl text of §365 on folio 21v was fully legible. Particles and minor connecting words in brackets were reconstructed from context where obscured; all content words and proper names were legible. No existing English translation was consulted during the translation process.

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Source Text: Manuscript Heading XXX

Nahuatl — Classical Nahuatl, Cantares Mexicanos, MS XXX, folios 20v–21v, §§344–365
UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx). Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

§344
[a] moquetza huehuetl antepilhuan [a] yece nican xonahahuiacan [a] ipanccclii Ypalnemohuani yohuiya

§345
Choquiztli moteca yxayotl pipixauhtimani huehuetitlan [a] nica [a] ixpan Ypalnemoa [a] yohuiya

§346
Moquauhtzetzeloa mooçelohuihuixohua [in] tepiltzin [a] Moteucçomatzi tequimiloaya xiyaontlamatican yxtlahuatl ytec [a] yohuiya

§347
[a in] nepapan quauhtli [a in] nepapan ocelotl huiya nepapan tepilhuan quimellaquahua [a] Moteucçomatzin tequimiloaya xiyaontlamatican yxtlahuatl ytec [a] ohuiya

§348
Teyolmelauh tiçaxochitl [in] yhuixochitl teyollon quimat yeehua [a in] quauhxochitl [in] yca [a] hui yehua chichimeca [in] tepilhuan [a] etcetera cccliv

§349
[Yn] motlatocaçomatzin [yn] Chahuacueye in Cueyatzi yehua Ihuitziccclvi hui huia aya nelli anquittaque [o a y] Xaltemoctzin aya nellin amechyxima teuctlon Quihnatzin [y] Tzihuacpopocatzin ohuaya etcetera

§350
Çan achican tlatzihuiz oncuetlahuian chimalli xochitl [a] anconmotlanehuia antepilhuan yyao ayyaha ohuaya ohuaya

§351
[çan] ayac contlamittaz ica toyazque [a] Quenonamican onnetlalcahuilon tlalticpacye nican ancomotlanehuia antepilhuan yyao etcetera

§352
Ohuaye o ayyee xichoca oon Chimalpopocatzin tAcolmitzin oo tiTiçahuatzin y xiquetzan tohuehueuh ma telel quiça ma iuhtian totlaocoly yyo ohuiya a o amaha iyaha ohuaya ohuaya

§353
Yn catli an cuicanitl oon macuel contzotzonan tohuehueuh ma telel quiça ma iuhtia in totlayocol y yyoho huia ha etcetera

§354
Chimalehcamalacotl momalacachoa in teuhtlin popoca y mapipiztla ycahuaca in Tenochtitlan in Mexico ye nican ohuaya etcetera

§355
Çan chimalcala ymanca tla'chinolcalico quauhpetlatl onocin ocelopetlatl ymancan y oncan quimamali yaoyotl quipitzan tlachinola yxochiuh aya Chimalpopocatzin tel ahnelli oon tel ahnelli o ayc cehuiz y ayc polihuiz yya ohuia

§356
Yca xichoca in chichimecatl y can Tlaixtoctzin huiya a y huia an yectli yxochiuh Dios Ypalnemohua yca tiquincocohua cocoya yyollo in tepilhuan y quennel conchihauzque ohuaya etcetera

§357
Yn yaoxochitl oncuepontimani chimalizquixochitl aya nomac in mani a no quipaqui xochiuh oceloxochitl y quauhxiloxochitl çan ye quincocohua quennel conchihuazque ohuaya

§358
Huin titotolinia ma iuhqui timiquican ma omochiuh huiya in mantechonihtocan in tocnihuan yn man techona'huacan quauhtin ya ocelotin i a ohuaya etcetera

§359
Quen huel xoconchihua quen huel xoconcuiliccclxiii yxochiuh aya Ypalnemoani nencuihuaya a'cuihuaya ohuican mahuizcan mahuizpan ixtlahuacan a ohuaya etcetera ccclxiv

§360
Çan nompehua ye nican o in nicuicanitl huiya noyollo ytech in cueponi xochitl y yectlon cuicatl y yca yan noconehcapehuian Ypalnemoa ohuaya etcetera ccclxvii

§361
Y ye nonnitotia nicanaan o in nicuicanitl huiya noyollo ytech in cueponi xochitl yectlon cuicatl y ycayan noconehcapehuian Ypalnemoa ohuaya

§362
Onquahuicecelia ohuaye oceloitzmolini in tecpillotl in tlatocayotl a in Mexico y mitica chimaltica yehuaya ontlatoa' teuctli in Ahuitzotl a ohuaya etcetera

§363
In tlaca aya cuihua moxochiuh o Ypalnemoani teuhtlin popoca yixtlahuatl ytec y oncan tiquincozcati o in tla'chinolxochitl ic tiquima'pan çan chimalli xochitl y yn Acolihuacan Neçahualpillo in Totoquihuatzi mitica chimaltica yehuaya ontlatoa' teuctli in Ahuitzotl a ohuaya

§364
Ye nicnotlamati a nichoca yahuaya quenmach ami oo ye ic moma'mantiuh in chimalli xochitli ye tle'cahuiloya huixahue can nic ittazccclxx quinequi noyol a ohuaya etcetera

§365
O a'tle iuhqui yaomiquiztli a'tle iuhquin xochimiquiztli quitlaçotlac o Ypalnemohuani huixahuee can nic ittaz quinequi noyol a ohuaya

Source Colophon

Nahuatl source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx/cantares-cantares-mexicanos/), folios 20v–21v. Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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