Image - from the publication Ancient American Poets - Translated and compiled by John Curl     ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN POETS Translated and Compiled by John Curl ABOUT THESE TRANSLATIONS I began these translations two decades ago after a conversation with the great translator-poet Jack Hirschman. I had been reading ancient indigenous literature unavailable in English and thought it contained knowledge that could change the world if it could be brought to light. He encouraged me to try to change the world.  To do these translations, I collected all the available original texts and previous translations (mostly in Spanish), as well as various dictionaries and grammars of the original languages. I immersed myself in the languages one at a time--Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya, and Quecha--using previous translations as gateways into the original texts.  These translations are literary interpretations designed to communicate the original meanings and beauty, as opposed to being literal scholarly translations. My approach is to try to dig down to the original intent and meaning and bring those out in the translation. A too-literal approach winds up focusing on the trees and missing the forest.  I have followed the lead of previous translators in cutting up the lines and modifying the word division and punctuation in the original language to fit the particular translation. Although this may be at variance with the original manuscript, it makes the poetry much more accessible and easier to follow in the original language. The layouts reflect the interpretations inherent in the translations.  Indigenous words used in the commentaries are in modern spelling, except for traditional spellings of names and words adopted into the English language. The text are in their colonial orthography. In Spanish-language texts, accents in conformity with Spanish grammatical rules are customarily inserted into Amerindian words, the bulk of which are names of people and places, such as Dzitbalché, Nezahualcóyotl, Manco Cápac. In modern English, some books follow the Spanish usage, while others do not. Here we will follow Amerindian usage, so those names will be spelled without the accents: Dzitbalche, Nezahualcoyotl, and Manco Capac.  I hope these translations reflect some of the brilliant light of the original poems. . . John Curl

Aztec Poetry 2

This is a review found at the Barnes & Noble online website of the book Fifteen Poets of the World by Miguel Leon-Portilla

Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post

In his immensely helpful Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World, Miguel León-Portilla provides translations and summarizes the biographies of 15 masters of Nahuatl verse, which he reproduces in both the Nahuatl and English languages. — Edward Hirsch

Publishers Weekly

These selections from two great manuscript collections of Nahautl verse from the 100-year period surrounding the Spanish conquest of Mexico indicate the high intellectual achievement of the Meso-American culture. Imagery is vivid and sophisticated: in one work, a foaming vortex of chocolate being stirred suggests a flower, and this composite image leads to an effusive paean to eroticism. The poets, we learn, were frequently kings or military captains of satellite principalities to the Aztec capital; the survival of many (and often lengthy) odes or elegies in oral folk traditions for more than a generation after the Conquest gives evidence of the integrity of that hierarchical society. However, a more than superficial sense of the rhythm and rhetoric of the poets is denied the reader who does not know Nahuatal, for though Leon-Portilla ( Endangered Cultures ) provides full Nahuatl transcriptions of all poems, along with the English translations, his profuse introductory material touches only briefly and none too skillfully on textual analysis, preferring the surer--and, indeed, fascinating--approach of dwelling on historical and biographical context. (Oct.)

Aztec Poetry

http://www.plu.edu/~friesjj/poems/home.html 

possible research topic

 Like you might know I came from Mexico so going back to my root for this research paper would be extremely inspiring. I don't know if  i could do this , but I would like to try to do my research paper on the language of the Aztecs and may be analyze their poems.

Research papper possible topics

I'm not currently sure what to base my research paper on. Although I do have some ideas for the topic, I feel it would be best to do a topic that is of my interest to make it identify me. I would most like to do it on ancient mythology for it something that I could find lots of information. Mythology from ancient civilization has always had something that attracts my attention it may be because of the way it describes the civilizations of our past. I also identify my self with my culture and background and therefore anything that represents it.

" The machine is Us/ing Us" by Professor Michael Wesch

This is an interesting video , which showed me a very diverse perspective of the way one uses electronic writing an computers themselves. It creates a dilemma about the way technology works with its endless possibilities, to the way its design and human capabilities. It adds on to the corruption of society by tecnology while at the same time its grown to be essential and practical.

Nearest CUNY Library Center

The closest CUNY library center to me and my work place is Berkly college, which is located at 3 East 43 st in Manhattan.