/lit/ - Literature

On transience the Aztecs also have some (shattered) gems.

>I, Nezahualcoyotl, ask
>this:
>Is it true one really lives
>on the earth?
>Not forever on earth,
>only a little while here.
>Though it be of jade it
>falls apart,
>though it be gold it
>wears away,
>though it be quetzal plumage
>it is torn asunder.
>Not forever on earth,
>Only a little while
>here.

>I comprehend the secret,
>the hidden:
>O my lords!
>Thus we are,
>we are mortal,
>humans through
>and through
>we all will have to go
>away,
>we all will have to die on
>earth . . .
>Like a painting
>we will be erased.
>Like a flower, we will dry up
>here on earth.
>Like the plumed vestment of the precious bird,
>that precious bird with the agile neck,
>we will all come to an end . . .
>Think on this, o lords,
>eagles and tigers,
>though you be of jade,
>though you be of gold,
>you will also go there,
>to the place of the fleshless.
>We will have to disappear,
>no one can remain.