I Will Pick the Lovely Blooms

The twenty-third cuicatl in Songs of the Lords of Anahuac, my English translation of the codex Romances de los señores de la Nueva España. A note written in Spanish at the beginning attributes the poem to “Cuahcuahtzin, Lord of Tepechpan.” It also appears in the other poetry manuscript, Cantares mexicanos, as song 43 and again as song 62, canto C.

My heart lusts¹ for the flowers,
those that just lie in my hands.
I sing out my anguish.
I practice my song on Earth.
I am Cuahcuauhtzin.²
I yearn for the flowers
that lie in my hands.
I pour my anguish out.