Notes for Song XXIII
Although No. V. is probably one of the lost songs of Nezahualcoyotl, the present is the only one of the collection which is definitely attributed to him. The language is very archaic, and in the sentiment there is every mark of antiquity.
The text is apparently a dialogue, which was chanted as strophe and antistrophe, the one singer speaking for the King, the other for the bard himself.
The word teotl is used for divinity, and it is doubtless this word for which the copyists of some of the other songs have substituted the Spanish Dios, thus conveying an impression that the chants themselves were of late date.
The last verse, however, seems to be by one who lives after the time of the great poet-prince, and is calling him to memory.