Poetry Was Highly Regarded
The Aztecs relished the arts, from their carvings, paintings, and mosaics to their sensitive poetic ambitions. There are a number of Aztec poems that survive to this day and give insight into the more emotional side of a culture that is often seen as brutal and unforgiving. They would recite poems at festivals or ceremonies, and a skilled poet could find himself renowned throughout the region.
Poetry to the Aztecs was referred to as “flower and song,” which were metaphors for art and symbolism. It was believed to be the highest of all art forms and it expressed the transient nature of life of earth for the Aztecs. Since the Aztecs believed that their principal god Omeoteotl achieved immortality through his creativity, it was the goal of Aztec poets to achieve the same.
One of the most famous poets was Nezahualcoyotl (meaning hungry coyote). His poems are still renowned to this day for their symbolism, myth, and style. They greatly influenced other poets, and for generations after his death, his poems continued to be recited and shared. Nezahualcoyotl was an important figure who was an architect, engineer, city planner, philosopher, and lawgiver, but it is his work as a poet that endeared him to the Aztec people.
The poems of the Aztec people were also used to show their depth of emotion and their mourning over those they lost. When the Spanish conquered, the Aztec people used their poems to express their grief and sadness at having lost not only the lives of those close to them, but also their homes and their culture.
Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrow
are left in Mexico and Tlatelolco,
where once we saw warriors and wise men.
We know it is true
that we must perish,
for we are mortal men.
You, the Giver of Life,
you have ordained it.
We wander here and there
in our desolate poverty.
We are mortal men.
We have seen bloodshed and pain
where once we saw beauty and valor.
We are crushed to the ground;
we lie in ruins.
There is nothing but grief and suffering
in Mexico and Tlatelolco,
where once we saw beauty and valor.
Have you grown weary of your servants?
Are you angry with your servants,
O Giver of Life?