An Aztec Love Song

I know not whether you have been absent:
I lie down with you, I rise up with you,
In my dreams you are with me.
If my teardrops tremble in my ears,
I know it is you moving within my heart.

 

translated by D,G. Britton & John Bierhorst

3 thoughts on “An Aztec Love Song

  1. this poem was sent to me in 1977 shortly after my husband’s death. by my best friend’s mom sent it to me. she said it was a nahuatl poem. it touched me so much i had it engraved on my husband’s headstone.

    • Thanks for the comment. I.used Aztec instead of Nahuatl since that is the language of the ancient Aztecs. Also, your use of teardrops is probably from the older translation by Brinton which I did not have. I used Bierhorst’s version which he admits is a “slight revision”. I guess he substituted ear drops for teardrops. I like teardrops better so have edited the post listing both as translators and substituting teardrops for ear drops.

Leave a reply to luz e. Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.