Let a Song Be Sung

The third cuicatl in Songs of the Lords of Anahuac, my English translation of the codex Romances de los señores de la Nueva España.

Once again he sings;
he too will soon arrive.
Our flowers, our songs
are fashioned and formed.

Let him present himself,
my friends, yonder
where those princes live:
Nezahualcoyotl¹ the singer
and Tzontecochatzin!²

Take up your flowers,
take up your fans:
dance with them,
my prince Yohyontzin!³

Take up the cocoa beans,
the funeral tree blooms,
mix up tejate⁴ to drink.
Let there be dancing,
let there be singing.

This land is not our home.
Here we cannot live.
But soon you will depart
for just that sort of place.

Let there be words,
let a song be sung,
so I, too, can converse
with these princes:
Citlalcoatl⁵, Cahualtzin⁶,
Moteuczoma⁷, and
Nezahualcoyotl.