Montezuma: An Epic on the Origin and Fate of the Aztec Nation

Richmond, Hiram Hoyt, 1843-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 1.8
Word count
213K words
Chapters
22

Tags

English Originals World HistoryModern Poetry Imperial Rise and FallColonial HistoryFate and FortuneEpic SagaHeroic NarrativeCultural ClashNational OriginFolk LegendAmerican CivilizationAztec

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Montezuma: An Epic on the Origin and Fate of the Aztec Nation by RichmondAuthor: Richmond, Hiram Hoyt, 1843-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 24, 2010

Editor's review

This verse drama of an epic takes as its subject the origin and fate of the Aztec nation, unfolding in English verse the rise and fall of the Montezuma era. Its value for readers lies in showing how a nineteenth-century American poet used an exotic ancient civilization to reflect on power, faith, and downfall, rather than in offering modern historical conclusions. The poem is markedly dramatic and moralizing, and serves as an entry point into Aztec imagination in Western literature. The book is substantial and slow-paced; readers are advised to sample key sections, such as the kingdom at its height and the arrival of the conquerors, to feel its grand tone and tragic atmosphere. Read alongside basic Aztec historical background, it reveals where the poem selects and reshapes historical fact for literary effect. As a public-domain e-book, it suits readers interested in the epic tradition and American themes who are willing to read slowly.

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Reading tips

  1. First review the basic historical timeline of the Aztecs, then read the corresponding passages in the poem, noting the gap between literary treatment and historical fact.
  2. There is no need to read every line from beginning to end; prioritize chapters on the kingdom's rise and fall to grasp the overall tragic structure.
  3. Keep pen and paper to note recurring images and moral commentary, then review the author's view of civilizational rise and decline after finishing.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22

FAQ

Is this epic suitable to read as a history book? No. It is an English verse epic on an Aztec theme, carrying the author's period perspective and literary imagination, with selective and dramatic treatment of historical fact. For history, pair it with modern historical scholarship; read the poem for its narrative structure and emotional expression.
How difficult is the English? Moderately advanced. The long poem has lengthy sentences, nineteenth-century written diction, and Aztec names and places. Readers with some experience of English poetry can proceed with notes and a dictionary; beginners should sample passages or consult a Chinese translation for the gist.
Why sample rather than read straight through? The book is long and slow-paced, with some passages heavy on commentary. For most readers, sampling key chapters such as the kingdom at its height and the arrival of the conquerors better captures the epic's tragic throughline and the author's intent, and makes it easier to stay engaged.

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About the author

Richmond, Hiram Hoyt, 1843- Author · American · 1843

Hiram Hoyt Richmond (born 1843) was an American writer about whom little public information is available. According to existing records, he was a western American pioneer who devoted himself to documenting the local history of California and Montana, an experience that provided material for his literary work. Only one work by him is extant, the long epic poem Montezuma: An Epic on the Origin and Fate of the Aztec Nation, which takes as its subject the origins and destiny of the Aztec people and shows his enduring interest in Native American history and fate. The epic combines the realities seen by a western pioneer with imaginings of an ancient civilization, and its language bears the narrative and lyrical features of nineteenth-century American poetry. Because relevant materials are scarce, his writing style and influence await further study, yet the work remains a sample for understanding how a nineteenth-century American writer treated the Aztec theme.