Note 55 — INTRODUCTION.
Reading edition
The most recent Mexican writers formally deny that any ancient Mexican poetry is now extant. Thus the eminent antiquary, Don Alfredo Chavero, in his elaborate work, México á través de los Siglos, says, "the truth is, we know no specimens of the ancient poetry, and those, whether manuscript or printed, which claim to be such, date from after the Conquest."55 In a similar strain the grammarian Diario Julio Caballero, writes: "There has never come into our hands a single poetic composition in this language. It is said that the great King Nezahualcoyotl was a poet and composed various songs; however that may be, the fact is that we have never seen any such compositions, nor met any person who has seen them."56