Prince Hualcoyotl himself was one of the most illustrious of their writers, especially in compositions of a poetical nature. Such lines as the following are attributed to him by historians:
"If there are bounds to pleasure, the saddest life must also have an end.
Then weave the chaplet of flowers, and sing thy songs in praise of the all powerful God, for the glory of this world soon fadeth away.
Rejoice in the green freshness of the spring, for the day will soon come when thou shalt sigh for these joys in vain."
And again:
"The goods of this life, its glories and riches, are but lent to us;
The substance is but an illusory shadow, and the things of today shall change on the coming of the morrow.
Then gather the fairest flowers from the gardens, to bind round thy brow, and seize the joys of the present ere they perish."
In the poetic thoughts which these lines represent we have the reflection of a mind endowed with beauty and simplicity—attributes of greatness; and, though surrounded by the darkness of ignorance and superstition, the man who possessed it lived to honor the high position he was born to fill, that of A Prince of Anahuac.
