7. The word ahuicaloyan, place of sweetness, would seem to be identical with ohuicaloyan, place of difficulty, in v. 8; I have regarded the latter as an error of transcription.
NOTES FOR SONG XXIII.
Although No. V. is probably one of the lost songs of Nezahualcoyotl, the present is the only one of the collection which is definitely attributed to him. The language is very archaic, and in the sentiment there is every mark of antiquity.
The text is apparently a dialogue, which was chanted as strophe and antistrophe, the one singer speaking for the King, the other for the bard himself.
The word teotl is used for divinity, and it is doubtless this word for which the copyists of some of the other songs have substituted the Spanish Dios, thus conveying an impression that the chants themselves were of late date.
The last verse, however, seems to be by one who lives after the time of the great poet-prince, and is calling him to memory.
NOTES FOR SONG XXIV.
It will be seen that there is a wearisome sameness in the theme of most of the short poems. Probably the bards followed conventional models, and feared for the popularity of their products, did they seek originality. Here again are the same delight in flowers and songs, and the same grief at the thought that all such joys are evanescent and that soon "death closes all."