Con flores Tu pintas
Does anybody like Aztec Poetry?
Con flores Tu pintas
O Dador de la Vida
Con canciones das color
con canciones somras
los quienes vivimos en la tierra
Despues tu vas a destruir aguilas y tigres
solamente vivimos en tu pintura
aqui, en la tierra
Con tinat negra, Tu vas a borrar
todo lo que fue amistad,
hermanidad, nobleza
Para dar sombra
a los quienes vivemos en la tierra
Solamente vivemos en tu libro the pinturas
aqui en la tierra
With flowers You paint,
O Giver of Life!
With songs You give color,
with songs You shade
those who will live on the earth.
Later You will destroy eagles and tigers:
we live only in Your painting
here, on the earth.
With black ink You will blot out
all that was friendship,
brotherhood, nobility.
You give shading
to those who will live on the earth.
We live only in Your book of paintings,
here on the earth
13 Answers
Does anybody like Aztec Poetry?
Con flores Tú pintas
O Dador de la Vida
Con canciones das color
con canciones sombras
los quienes vivimos en la tierra
Despues tú vas a destruir aguilas y tigres
solamente vivimos en tu pintura
aquí, en la tierra
Con tinta negra, Tú vas a borrar
todo lo que fue amistad,
hermanidad, nobleza
Para dar sombra
a los quienes vivimos en la tierra
Solamente vivimos en tu libro de pinturas
aquí en la tierra
With flowers You paint,
O Giver of Life!
With songs You give color,
with songs You shade
those who will live on the earth.
Later You will destroy eagles and tigers:
we live only in Your painting
here, on the earth.
With black ink You will blot out
all that was friendship,
brotherhood, nobility.
You give shading
to those who will live on the earth.
We live only in Your book of paintings,
here on the earth
Yes I noticed the delicacy of Margaret and appreciate it My apology for making those two stupid errors
This is a song lyric written in the fourteen-hundreds in nahuatl
many people in this part of mexico speak nahautl that is almost identical to the nahuatl spoken before the spanish came
Hola Maria, very nice, I have never had a chance to read Aztec poetry and I find it quite beautiful. There are some words that I am not understanding/guessing at. So 'somras' comes from somera? That's quite lovely. Then 'tinat'? Thank you for posting. Is it copied from somewhere or did you write it yourself?
Xopan cuicatl
Amoxcalco,
pehua cuica,
yeyecohua,
quimoyahua xochitl,
on ahuia cuicatl.
*
Canto de primavera
En la casa de las pinturas,
comienza a cantar,
ensaya el canto,
derrama flores,
alegra el canto.
*
This is the opening verse;
this must be song lyrics.
I am really enjoying this poetic form, it is very picturesque. You must be doing a great job translating since it is so difficult to translate poetry and make it conform to the idea and still sound poetic. I am looking forward to more when you can! Thanks so much for this.
"cuicatl" in nahuatl means "song"
This poem in Nahuatl and Spanish is handwritten in an old notebook. I intend to ask my friends of San Juan Tlamacazapa, who speak Idioma if the spanish translation is right. Idioma is the word the people use when referring to native language. Also, the people from the upper Balsas river, the Xalitlas, speak Nahuatl. They come to this part of Mexico to sell their bark paintings in the fairs.
Maybe they will be able to understand, explaining how to improve the Spanish version of these song lyrics, for the purpose of setting them to some Aztec music.
Aqui esta el segundo verso de este cancion azteca del siglo 16.
Icahuaca cuicatl,
oyohualli cuatlihuitlz,
zan quinanquiliya
toxochayacach.
Quimoyahua xochitl
on ahuia cuicatl.
Resuena el canto,
los cascabeles se hacen oír,
a ellos responden
nuestras sonajas floridas.
Derrama flores,
alegra el canto.
Muchas gracias por sus correciones amigos. Son muy agredecidos porque mi meta es poder escribir ingles y español a la perfeccion. Es que muchas veces caigo en el chat, qye desgraciadamente a infectado a nuestra generacion. Gracias para tener paciencia conmigo.
Hola friends. Thank you. I also much enjoy this poetry which I first disovered in an old notebook. I have found other nahuatl poems on the internet These poems are from the time before the Spanish conquered Mexico.
Con flores Tu pintas
O Dador de la Vida
Con canciones das color
con canciones sombras
los quienes vivimos en la tierra
Despues tu vas a destruir aguilas y tigres
solamente vivimos en tu pintura
aqui, en la tierra
Con tinat negra, Tu vas a borrar
todo lo que fue amistad,
hermanidad, nobleza
The writer says :Giver of Life you paint with flowers
with songs you give shadow, with songs you shadow
those of us who live on earth.
Later you will destroy eagles and tigres
we only live in your painting
here on the earth
With black ink you are going to erase
all that was friendship,
brotherhood, nobility.
This one is also lovely, isn't it amazing how the words are chosen so carefully and almost starkly yet paint such an amazingly vivid picture. I love it, I guess this type of poetry will last forever. Thanks for posting, hopefully you will find more Maria!
One day I may have enough Spanish to comprehend the beauty; but for now I know there is a depth to the words and a depth to the meaning!
I am trying very hard with friendships and if these where "blotted out with black ink"; it would be sad indeed. Real lasting friendships take a huge amount of time, effort, patience, forgiveness, etc.; and to see them erased, blotted out, gone, destroyed; would be terrible indeed.
here is another aztec poem published on the internet
Ensnared Deer
tlamazcaqui
Chicome-Xochitl
teotalhua
ye iuhqui
otititlanihuac
yohualli
can in
Chicome-Xochitl
can ca?
ca opatoloc
ho ho!
tlamaloc
ye iuhqui
spirit
Seven Flower
desert dweller
it's all over with
you're a goner
in the night
where is
Seven Flower
where is he?
and his luck?
ha ha!
he was taken
it's all over with
I am only able to translate from the English since i do not know very much nahuatl. I look forward to the opportunity to inquire of one of the local native nahuatl speaker. Many nahuatl speakers live in this area, but that does not mean I meet one every day.
spirit
Siete Flor
quien vive en el desierto
ya se acabó
has perdido
en la noche
¿donde esta Siete Flor?
¿donde esta?
¿y su suerte?
ja ja
¡estas tomado!
ya se acabo
