Songs of the Lords of Anahuac

The codex called Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, usually translated Ballads of the Lords of New Spain, consists of forty-two folios on which thirty-six cuicatl—songs or ballads—were compiled in Nahuatl somewhere around 1582. This date is attested in the Relación of Juan Bautista de Pomar, which was attached to the collection. This collection of cuicatl is one of only two surviving codices that preserve Nahua poetry; the longer codex is known as Cantares Mexicanos (Songs of Mexico). The pieces selected by the compiler of Romances are mainly from the city-state of Tetzcoco, a member of the Triple Alliance of Anahuac. Its legendary ruler Nezahualcoyotl was famed as one of the greatest tlamatinimeh or philosophers ever. He was also a great poet, and several of the cuicatl in Romances are attributed to him.

I will be releasing my translations of the thirty-six songs in Romances at a rate of about two per week, along with a normalized version of the Nahuatl text and footnotes. You will find links to each poem as they become available in the table of contents below. An introduction providing background will evolve gradually. Think of this project as a work-in-progress.

The new title I’ve given the collection removes the two terms that are most clearly colonial in nature (“romances” and “Nueva España”). Anahuac was the name used by Nahua peoples before the Spanish invasion for the Valley of Mexico, the plateau region of lakes where most of the songs were composed. In Nahuatl, the title might be rendered In incuica Anahuac…