I’m delighted that the journal Metamorphoses has accepted “A Cradlesong,” my translation from the Nahuatl of “Cōzolcuīcatl,” poem LVII of the Songs of Mexico codex composed in 1585.
In the 800-word sequence, a young Mexica girl envisions the fallen young king of Tenochtitlan, Ahuizotl, as a baby, youth and man, her musings running from motherly affection to sexual passion. Toward the end, the actual spirit of the leader returns to earth, bringing songs and joy to the girl.
Metamorphoses is the journal of the Five College Faculty Seminar on Literary Translation (the Five College Consortium is a group of campuses in western Massachusetts: Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith and UMass Amherst). Published in the spring and fall, the journal provides a forum for literary translation from all languages, and for papers on the theory and practice of literary translation.