A REDISCOVERED POEM (4) "OFFERING FLOWERS" from THE FLORENTINE CODEX (Aztec) reworked by Jerome Rothenberg with image & design by Ian Tyson

     

                              Circle Press 1968

per Bernardino de Sahagún, Spain/Mexico, 1499-1590

from the Florentine Codex: Offering Flowers

(The Aztecs had a feast which fell out in the ninth month & which they called: The Flowers Are Offered)

& two days before the feast, when flowers were sought, all scattered over the mountains, that every flower might be found

& when these were gathered, when they had come to the flowers & arrived where they were, at dawn they strung them together; everyone strung them

 & when the flowers had been threaded, then these were twisted & wound in garlands—long ones, very long, & thick—very thick

 & when morning broke the temple guardians then ministered to Huitzilopochtli; they adorned him with garlands of flowers; they placed flowers upon his head

 & before him they spread, strewed, & hung rows of all the various flowers, the most beautiful flowers, the threaded flowers

 then flowers were offered to all the rest of the gods

 they were adorned with flowers; they were girt with garlands of flowers

 flowers were placed upon their heads, there in the temples

 & when midday came, they all sang & danced

 quietly, calmly, evenly they danced

 they kept going as they danced

 ◦ ◦ ◦

             I offer flowers. I sow flower seeds. I plant flowers. I assemble flowers. I pick flowers. I pick different flowers. I remove flowers. I seek flowers. I offer flowers. I arrange flowers. I thread a flower. I string flowers. I make flowers. I form them to be extending, uneven, rounded, round bouquets of flowers.        

            I make a flower necklace, a flower garland, a paper of flowers, a bouquet, a flower shield, hand flowers. I thread them. I string them. I provide them with grass. I provide them with leaves. I make a pendant of them. I smell something. I smell them. I cause one to smell something. I cause him to smell. I offer flowers to one. I offer him flowers. I provide him with flowers. I provide one with flowers. I provide one with a flower necklace. I provide him with a flower necklace. I place a garland on one. I provide him a garland. I clothe one in flowers. I clothe him in flowers. I cover one with flowers. I cover him with flowers. I destroy one with flowers. I destroy him with flowers. I injure one with flowers. I injure him with flowers.

           I destroy one with flowers; I destroy him with flowers; I injure one with flowers: with drink, with food, with flowers, with tobacco, with capes, with gold. I beguile, I incite him with flowers, with words; I beguile him, I say, “I caress him with flowers. I seduce one. I extend one a lengthy discourse. I induce him with words.”

           I provide one with flowers. I make flowers, or I give them to one that someone will observe a feast day. Or I merely continue to give one flowers; I continue to place them in one’s hands, I continue to offer them to one’s hands. Or I provide one with a necklace, or I provide one with a garland of flowers.

(Nahuatl/Aztec)

Translated from Spanish by Arthur J. O. Anderson & Charles E. Dibble