given
by Wordsworth, that it is to the grand and beautiful scenes of Nature
that the poet must turn for the elevation of soul which will lift him
to the sublimest heights of his art. But this exaltation bears with
it the heavy penalty that it disqualifies for ordinary joys. As in
medieval tales, he who had once been admitted to fairyland, could
nevermore conquer his longing to return thither, so the poet longs
for some other condition of existence where the divine spirit of song
may forever lift him above the trials and the littleness of this
earthly life.

There is no sign of Christian influence in the poem, and it is
probably one handed down from a generation anterior to the Conquest.

1. The word _peuhcayotl_ from _peua_, to begin, intimates that this
was a song chanted at the beginning of a musical entertainment. The
verses are longer, and the phraseology plainer than in many of those
following. There is also an absence of interjections and lengthened
vowels, all of which indicate that the time was slow, and the actions
of the singer temperate, as was the custom at the beginning of a
_baile_. (See Introd., p. 20.)

1. _Ninoyolnonotza_, a reflexive, frequentative form from _notza_, to
think, to reflect, itself from the primitive radicle _no_, mind,
common to both the Nahuatl and Maya languages. The syllable _yol_ is
for _yollotl_, heart, in its figurative sense of soul or mind. The
combination of _yolnonotza_ is not found in any of the dictionaries.
The full sense is, "I am thinking by myself, in my heart."

_ahuiaca_, an adverbial form, usually means "pleasant-smelling,"
though in derivation it is from the verb _ahuia_, to be satisfied
with.

_quetzal_, for _quetzalli_, a long, handsome blue feather from the
quetzal bird, often used figuratively for anything beautiful or
precious.

_chalchiuh_ for _chalchiuitl_, the famous green-stone, jade or
emerald, so highly prized by the Mexicans; often used figuratively
for anything noble, beautiful and esteemed.

_huitzitzicatin_, a word not found in the dictionaries, appears to be
from _tzitzilca_, to tremble, usually from cold, but here applied to
the tremulous motion of the humming bird as it hovers over a flower.

_zacuan_, the yellow plumage of the zacuan bird, and from similarity
of color here applied to the butterfly. The zacuan is known to
ornithologists as the _Oriolus dominicensis_. These birds are
remarkably gregarious, sometimes as many as a hundred ne