The "Songs of Dzitbalché" is the only manuscript of Ancient Mayan poetry known to still exist. The poems cover the poet's personal thoughts, philosophy, love, and most importantly mentions parts of old rituals and spiritual values.
It was found in 1942 in Merida, Yucatan, and was 18 pages long, written on Spanish paper using ink. It was written in "Colonial Yucatec Maya", which was the alphabetic writing that the Mayans learned during the Early Colonial period. Basically the Spanish had banned the old writings and possession of the old books, so some tried to copy the old codices down. The format has similarities to European-style books- it has lines and stanzas, each poem begins on a new page, and most have titles. According to the analysis of the extraordinary linguist Barrera Vásquez, the manuscript was produced around 1742, because of a certain spelling the author used that was not used until then. It is very likely that it is a copy of a previous codex, written in 1440.
The original title of the book is "The Book of Dances of the Ancient Men that was the Custom Here in the Villages Before the White Men Arrived" A large number of the poems incorporate fragments of ancient ceremonies; others are descriptions of those ceremonies. However, it is not always possible to distinguish between the two.
I'll give two examples! As well as show an image of the original text.
THE MOURNING SONG
OF THE POOR MOTHERLESS ORPHAN
DANCE TO DRUMBEATS
I was very small when my mother died,
when my father died.
Ay ay, my Lord!
Raised by the hands of friends,
I have no family here on earth.
Ay ay, my Lord!
Two days ago my friends died,
and left me insecure
vulnerable, alone. Ay ay!
That day I was alone
and put myself
in a stranger's hand.
Ay ay, my lord!
Evil, much evil passes here
on earth. Perhaps
I will never stop crying.
Without family,
alone, very lonely I walk,
crying day and night
only cries consume my eyes and soul.
Under evil so hard.
Ay ay, my Lord!
Take pity on me, put an end
to this suffering.
Give me death , my Beautiful Lord,
or give my soul transcendence!
Poor, poor
alone on earth
pleading insecure lonely
imploring door to door
asking every person I see to give me love.
I who have no home, no clothes,
no fire.
Ay my lord! Have pity on my!
Give my soul transcendence
to endure.
Here's the other one, and much happier, though don't think too much about the significance of the title. This is an example of a poem describing a ritual:
FLOWER SONG
The most alluring moon
has risen over the forest;
it is going to burn
suspended in the center
of the sky to lighten
all the earth, all the woods,
shining its light on all.
Sweetly comes the air and the perfume.
Happiness permeates all good men.
We have arrived inside the woods
where no one will see what we have
come here to do.
We have brought plumeria flowers,
chucum blossoms, dog jasmines;
we have the copal,
the low cane vine,
the land tortoise shell,
new quartz, chalk and cotton thread;
the new chocolate cup,
the large fine flint,
the new weight,
the new needle work,
gifts of turkeys, new leather,
all new, even our hair bands,
they touch us with nectar
of the roaring conch shell
of the ancients.
Already, already
we are in the heart of the woods,
at the edge of the pool in the stone
to await the rising
of the lovely smoking star
over the forest.
Take off your clothes,
let down your hair,
become as you were
when you arrived here on earth,
virgins, maidens.
This here is the original text, written above the title is the word kolomche, which means "A Ceremonial Dance" and below the title is the first poem, "I will kiss your mouth."
If you're curious like me and want to try and match that old alphabet to the current Yucatec Mayan writing, good luck. It's near the center, not the bottom-most text.
BIN IN TZ'UUTZ' A CHI
Bin in tz'uutz' a chi
Tut yam x cohl
X ciichpam zac
Y an y an a u ahal
