You tell me then that I must perish
like the flowers that I cherish.
Nothing remaining of my name,
nothing remembered of my fame?
But the gardens I planted still are young—
the songs I sang will still be sung!

— Gary Jennings Aztec (1980)

Notes from Wikiquote

Adapted from original Nahuatl poetry | Zan ca iuhquin o yaz in ōmpopoliuh xochitla, antlenotleyoyez in quemmanian, antlenitacihcayez in tlalticpac. Manel xochitl manel cuicatl… | "Even as I shall go forth into the place of decayed flowers, so sometime will it be with your fame and deeds on earth. Although they are flowers, although they are songs…"

More quotes by Gary Jennings

To command respect and deference and privileges reserved for the nobility, I need only dare to be a noble.

Aztec (1980)

Your Astute Majesty can hardly have failed to notice that the earlier pages have treated—casually, without remorse or repentance—of such sins as homicide, prolicide, suicide, anthropophagy, incest, harlotry, torture, idolatry, and breach of the Commandment to honor father and mother. If, as it has been said, one's sins are wounds of one's soul, this Indian's soul is bleeding at every pore.

Aztec (1980)

"No man ever took better care of his life. He lived only to go on living."
I waited for more, but he said no more, so I asked, "What became of him, Master Cuachic?"
"He died."
"That is all?"
"What else ever becomes of any man? I no longer remember even his name. No one remembers anything at all about him, except that he lived and then he died."

Aztec (1980)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Gary Jennings (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.

You tell me then that I must perishlike the flowers that I cherish.Nothing remaining of my name,nothing remembered of my fame?But the gardens I planted still are young—the songs I sang will still be sung!

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Notes from Wikiquote

More quotes by Gary Jennings

Attribution

You tell me then that I must perish
like the flowers that I cherish.
Nothing remaining of my name,
nothing remembered of my fame?
But the gardens I planted still are young—
the songs I sang will still be sung!