QUETZALCOATL
Thou green-feathered Sky-Snake,
Thou crested Serpent,
Thy body is the undulating cloud, the rolling cloud,
Boiling white above,
Black-bellied.
Forked lightnings are thy tongues,
Thine eyes flash forked lightnings;
Thy great drums boom
From mountain to mountain, thundering——
Whither thou goest bearded with black rain,
Shedding beneath thee a reek of black rain.
He was an old man when he sailed away to Tlapallan:
Bright was his countenance as the silver-crested cloud;
Like a descending rain was his streaming beard;
His wind-blown robe was as the blue rain hiding the hill-tops.
Upon the azure lake he was wafted,
Serpent-treading——
Wafted beyond the horizons of day and night,
Wafted unto Tlapallan,
Quetzalcoatl departing.
He was an old man when he sailed afar to Tlapallan:
Venerable was his streaming beard.
Shall he not come again unto his children?
Shall he not once more be wafted upon the azure lake,
Serpent-treading,
In vaporous robes resplendent?
Shall he not strike forth with staves of sunbeam,
Making earth fruitful,
Making beautiful the feathered fields——
With corn of all colors,
With flowers of all colors?
Lo, where his hand is uplifted——
Quetzalcoatl of the East, Quetzalcoatl of the West!
Lo, where he hurleth into the heaven his Fire-Snakes——
Great Serpents, like undulating clouds,
Crested, rain-reeking.
Their bellies blacken the sky;
Their fierce rains flood earth’s hill-rimmed vale;
Their drumming is from mountain to mountain;
From horizon to horizon is their thunder.
Wonderful are the green plumes of the quetzal, flowing:
They bend in gracious curves, aslant in the sunlight;
They glow like fields of bladed maize, aslant in the sunlight;
All precious jewels shine within them——
Green fire-opals and blue turquoise,
The colors of all flowers,
The rich tasselings of bearded corn....
How beautiful are the dews dropt from the Sky-Serpent!
How precious are thy gifts, O Quetzalcoatl!
My offering is corn of seven hues;
My offering is blue smoke of tobacco;
My offering is a precious plume of the green-feathered quetzal;
A rich jewel is my offering, green, with fire in its heart!
Answer me from the two horizons,
O Quetzalcoatl!
From the rims of night and day return unto me,
O Quetzalcoatl, Lord very grateful!