Notes for Song VIII
The entire absence in this lament for the dead of any consolation drawn from Christian doctrines, points clearly to a date for its composition earlier than the teachings of the missionaries. Its cry of woe is hopeless, and the title attributes its authorship to one of the old chieftains, tlatoani, who held the power before the Spaniard arrived.
1. quetzalhuahuaciuhtoque, from quetzalli, huaqui; in teintoque, the splinters; the same simile is employed in VII, 2.
2. ximoayan, see note to I, 8. The occurrence of this term here and in verse 3 testifies to the fact of a composition outside of Christian influences.