Description

Book Synopsis

Compiled in 1582, Ballads of the Lords of New Spain is one of the two principal sources of Nahuatl song, as well as a poetical window into the mindset of the Aztec people some sixty years after the conquest of Mexico. Presented as a cancionero, or anthology, in the mode of New Spain, the ballads show a reordering—but not an abandonment—of classic Aztec values. In the careful reading of John Bierhorst, the ballads reveal in no uncertain terms the pre-conquest Aztec belief in the warrior''s paradise and in the virtue of sacrifice.

This volume contains an exact transcription of the thirty-six Nahuatl song texts, accompanied by authoritative English translations. Bierhorst includes all the numerals (which give interpretive clues) in the Nahuatl texts and also differentiates the text from scribal glosses. His translations are thoroughly annotated to help readers understand the imagery and allusions in the texts. The volume also includes a helpful introduct

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • A Note on Orthography
  • Using the Online Edition
  • Introduction
  • On the Translation of Aztec Poetry
  • Guide to the Vocabulary
  • Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España/Ballads of the Lords of New Spain
  • Guide to the Transcription
  • The Text in Nahuatl and in English
  • Part 1
    • [I] 1. Friends, let us sing
    • [II] 2. "I'm coming, I, Yoyontzin, craving flowers"
    • [III] 3. Again they make music
    • [IV] 4. God Self Maker's home is nowhere
    • [V] 5. Friends, listen to this
    • [VI] 6. "I come to guard the city"
    • [VII] 7. The flower lords, the song bells
    • [VIII] 8. Chalco's come to fight
    • [IX] 9. Let's drink
    • [X] 10. For a moment God's drums come forth
    • [XI] 11. May your flesh, your hearts be leafy green
    • [XII] 12. The flower trees are whirling
    • [XIII] 13. In this flower house
    • [XIV] 14. Princes, I've been hearing good songs
  • Part 2
    • [XV] 1. Now let us begin
    • [XVI] 2. A master of egrets makes these flowers move
    • [XVII] 3. On this flower mat you paint your songs
    • [XVIII] 4. Are You obliging?
    • [XIX] 5. I'm born in vain
    • [XX] 6. I strike up a song
    • [XXI] 7. I stand up the drum
    • [XXII] 8. Your flowers blossom as bracelets
    • [XXIII] 9. My heart is greatly wanting flowers
    • [XXIV] 10. Let there be comrades
    • [XXV] 11. Strike it up beautifully
    • [XXVI] 12. Eagle flowers, broad leafy ones, are sprouting
    • [XXVII] 13. A shield-roaring blaze-smoke rises up
    • [XXVIII] 14. Flowers are our only adornment
  • Part 3
    • [XXIX] 1. [. . .]
    • [XXIX-A] 1-A. You paint with flowers, with songs
    • [XXX] 2. Your flowers are jade
    • [XXXI] 3. Come forth and play our drum
    • [XXXII] 4. In the house of pictures
  • Part 4
    • [XXXIII] 1. Begin in beauty
    • [XXXIV] 2. Like flowers
    • [XXXV] 3. "Never with shields"
    • [XXXVI] 4. Jade, turquoise: your chalk, [your] plumes
  • Commentary
  • Concordance to Proper Nouns
  • Verbs, Particles, and Common Nouns
  • Appendix I: Two Versions of the Myth of the Origin of Music
  • Appendix II: Corrections for the Cantares Edition
  • Bibliography
  • Index

Ballads of the Lords of New Spain

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      Publisher: University of Texas Press
      Publication Date: 01/07/2009
      ISBN13: 9780292723450, 978-0292723450
      ISBN10: 0292723458
      Also in:
      History of the Americas Not Just Books Stationery

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Compiled in 1582, Ballads of the Lords of New Spain is one of the two principal sources of Nahuatl song, as well as a poetical window into the mindset of the Aztec people some sixty years after the conquest of Mexico. Presented as a cancionero, or anthology, in the mode of New Spain, the ballads show a reordering—but not an abandonment—of classic Aztec values. In the careful reading of John Bierhorst, the ballads reveal in no uncertain terms the pre-conquest Aztec belief in the warrior''s paradise and in the virtue of sacrifice.

      This volume contains an exact transcription of the thirty-six Nahuatl song texts, accompanied by authoritative English translations. Bierhorst includes all the numerals (which give interpretive clues) in the Nahuatl texts and also differentiates the text from scribal glosses. His translations are thoroughly annotated to help readers understand the imagery and allusions in the texts. The volume also includes a helpful introduct

      Table of Contents

      • Preface
      • A Note on Orthography
      • Using the Online Edition
      • Introduction
      • On the Translation of Aztec Poetry
      • Guide to the Vocabulary
      • Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España/Ballads of the Lords of New Spain
      • Guide to the Transcription
      • The Text in Nahuatl and in English
      • Part 1
        • [I] 1. Friends, let us sing
        • [II] 2. "I'm coming, I, Yoyontzin, craving flowers"
        • [III] 3. Again they make music
        • [IV] 4. God Self Maker's home is nowhere
        • [V] 5. Friends, listen to this
        • [VI] 6. "I come to guard the city"
        • [VII] 7. The flower lords, the song bells
        • [VIII] 8. Chalco's come to fight
        • [IX] 9. Let's drink
        • [X] 10. For a moment God's drums come forth
        • [XI] 11. May your flesh, your hearts be leafy green
        • [XII] 12. The flower trees are whirling
        • [XIII] 13. In this flower house
        • [XIV] 14. Princes, I've been hearing good songs
      • Part 2
        • [XV] 1. Now let us begin
        • [XVI] 2. A master of egrets makes these flowers move
        • [XVII] 3. On this flower mat you paint your songs
        • [XVIII] 4. Are You obliging?
        • [XIX] 5. I'm born in vain
        • [XX] 6. I strike up a song
        • [XXI] 7. I stand up the drum
        • [XXII] 8. Your flowers blossom as bracelets
        • [XXIII] 9. My heart is greatly wanting flowers
        • [XXIV] 10. Let there be comrades
        • [XXV] 11. Strike it up beautifully
        • [XXVI] 12. Eagle flowers, broad leafy ones, are sprouting
        • [XXVII] 13. A shield-roaring blaze-smoke rises up
        • [XXVIII] 14. Flowers are our only adornment
      • Part 3
        • [XXIX] 1. [. . .]
        • [XXIX-A] 1-A. You paint with flowers, with songs
        • [XXX] 2. Your flowers are jade
        • [XXXI] 3. Come forth and play our drum
        • [XXXII] 4. In the house of pictures
      • Part 4
        • [XXXIII] 1. Begin in beauty
        • [XXXIV] 2. Like flowers
        • [XXXV] 3. "Never with shields"
        • [XXXVI] 4. Jade, turquoise: your chalk, [your] plumes
      • Commentary
      • Concordance to Proper Nouns
      • Verbs, Particles, and Common Nouns
      • Appendix I: Two Versions of the Myth of the Origin of Music
      • Appendix II: Corrections for the Cantares Edition
      • Bibliography
      • Index

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