Notes for Song VII
The second specimen from the muse of Tetlapan Quetzanitzin is the noblest war song in the collection. It is an appeal to his friends to join in a foray to Chiapas. The intoxication of the battle field is compared to that produced by the strong white wine prepared from maguey, which was drunk only on solemn occasions. The bard likens the exhaustion of his fellow warriors from previous conflicts, to the stupor which follows a debauch, and he exhorts them to throw it aside.
1. oamaxque, o, pret. am, you, axque, 2d pl. pret. from ay, to do.
octicatl, apparently an old form from octli, the intoxicating beverage prepared from the maguey.
oanquique, 2d pl. pret. from cui, to take.
ohuican, a place of difficulty and danger. The frequent addition of the terminal o in this and the succeeding verses is merely euphonic.
2. teoatl tlachinolli; see note VI, 4.
in maquiztli tlazotetl, the beloved jewels, a phrase which indicates that the broken stones and splintered emeralds referred to are the young warriors who fall in battle, the pride of their parents’ hearts, who are destroyed in the fight.
The tizaoctli, white wine (tizatl, chalk, hence white, and octli, wine), referred to in this passage, is said by Sahagun to have been drunk especially at the feast of the god Papaztac, one of the many gods of the wine cup. Hist. de Nueva España. Lib. II, App. Tezozomoc mentions it as handed to the mourners at funeral ceremonies. Cronica Mexicana, cap. 55.
3. xochitlalticpacilhtuicacpao; in this long compound of xochitl, flower, tlalti, earth, and ilhuicatl, sky, with various postpositions and the euphonic terminal o, the final pa gives the sense of location, towards, in the direction of.
chimalxochiti; “the shield flower,” the shield or buckler of the ancient warriors, ornamented with tassels and feathers, is not unaptly called the flower of war.