Weeping in Nahuatl Poetry

Introduction

The Nahuatl-language songs collected in the Cantares Mexicanos and the Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España are fascinating and complex compositions. They deal with life and death, pleasure and pain, joy and sadness. While we might think of these pairs as opposites, in Nahuatl poems, it can be difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Poems that describe tears and crying are good examples of this: while weeping often accompanies expressions of grief and sadness, it can also, and even at the same time, fulfil other functions, like recalling the past and giving the singer a reason to sing.

Pic 1: Manuscript 1628-bis, held by the Biblioteca Nacional in Mexico, contains the songs known as the ‘Cantares Mexicanos’

Recalling the past

“All good things must come to an end,” and those left behind are moved to tears not only by the knowledge of this fact, but also when they contemplate their losses. An example of this appears in the very first piece in the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, which describes the quest of the singer for flowers and songs. The poetic voice is successful, reaching Xochitlalpan (“a land of flowers”) thanks to an obliging quetzal. But despite successfully reaching the “land of flowers,” the poetic voice soon turns to weeping: “And so my heart is weeping [chocan noyollo]. I, the singer, recall [noconilnamiquia] how I went to look around in flower land” (trans. Bierhorst, Cantares Mexicanos 137). Why this sadness? Essentially, the poetic voice recognizes the difficulty that others would have in making this journey to Xochitlalpan. The recollection of a past delight, for this reason, moves the poetic voice to tears.

Pic 3: A quetzal bird guides the singer to the “land of flowers” in the ‘Cantares Mexicanos’

War

There is another important theme in Nahuatl poetry that helps to explain the prevalence of weeping in the songs: war. Many of the songs in the Cantares and the Romances deal with themes like preparing for battle, comrades-in-arms, and dying on the battlefield. The Florentine Codex presents war as one of the primary responsibilities of the tlatoani, or ruler: “The ruler was known as the lord of men. His charge was war. Hence, he determined, disposed, and arranged how war was to be made” (Book 8 : 51). The soldiers commanded by the tlatoani, in turn, are those “who had been reared in war and had gloried in all kinds of suffering and misery” (Book 8 : 54). We see a good example of these aspects of war in the following:-

Pic 5: Nahua warriors pictured in the Florentine Codex

Christianity

Another important aspect of the Cantares and the Romances is the influence of Christianity. While the songs in these collections draw on an older, pre-Hispanic tradition, they also reflect the colonial world in which they were compiled and transcribed (and in some cases, composed and performed for particular occasions), and an important feature of that world was Christianity. One of the more overtly Christianized songs in the collection is for the feast of San Francisco. In this piece, the singers recall the death of the saint: “O Mexican children, let’s sigh-sing. Today, our father, San Francisco, ascended to heaven. Let’s chirp our tears [tonchoquizcuicuiycaca] for his sake. Let’s be pleasured in this flower place, this home place” (trans. Bierhorst, Cantares Mexicanos 291). The portrayal of weeping in this song is very similar to what we have seen in other compositions: crying and tears are closely associated with pleasure [tonahahuiaca], and pleasure is associated with a flowery place [xochitecpã]. At the same time, the influence of Christianity—in particular, the Franciscan missionaries who began to arrive in Mexico soon after the military defeat of the Mexica by Cortés in 1521—is evident in the dedication of the singers to Saint Francis.

Pic 7: A fresco painting of the “first twelve” Franciscans to arrive in Mexico

Further reading:-

• Allen, Heather J. “‘Llorar amargamente’: Economies of Weeping in the Spanish Empire.” Colonial Latin American Review, vol. 24, no. 4, 2015, pp. 479–504, doi:10.1080/10609164.2016.1150034
• Bierhorst, John. Ballads of the Lords of New Spain: The Codex Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España. University of Texas Press, 2009
• (Do.) Cantares Mexicanos. Songs of the Aztecs. Stanford UP, 1985
• Karttunen, Frances E. An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. University of Oklahoma Press, 1992
• Lee, Jongsoo. The Allure of Nezahualcoyotl: Pre-Hispanic History, Religion, and Nahua Poetics. University of New Mexico Press, 2009
• Read, Kay Almere. “Productive Tears: Weeping Speech, Water, and the Underworld in the Mexica Tradition.” Holy Tears: Weeping in the Religious Imagination, edited by Kimberley Christine Patton and John Stratton Hawley, Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 52–66
• Sahagún, Bernardino de. Florentine Codex/General History of the Things of New Spain Book 8: Kings and Lords. Translated by Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson, The School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1954
• (Do.) Florentine Codex/General History of the Things of New Spain Book 10: The People. Translated by Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson, The School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961.

Pic 9: The huehuetl drum played by Macuilxochitl in the Codex Borbonicus

We are sincerely grateful to Dr. Caroline Egan, Lecturer in Colonial Literary and Cultural Studies, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge, for this perceptive article on the importance and symbolism of weeping in Nahuatl poetry.

Mexicolore contributor Caroline Egan