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finds comfort and purpose in living. "The father does not disappear, but goes on being fulfilled. Neither dimmed nor destroyed is the face of the lord - Rather, he will leave his daughters and sons" (1752-3).

With the leaving of his sons and daughters, man's sense of loss of a dream and of incompleteness in dying, is balanced by a sense of living on forever, in the memories and deeds of his offspring. This theme is echoed in the connectedness of man with nature. "The Prayer for Future Generations" ties man and nature together very eloquently, with an allusion to the oneness of semen and plant growth, as one in the same cycle of rebirth and growth. "Thou giver of ripeness and freshness and thou giver of daughters and sons, spread thy stain, spill thy drops of green and yellow" (1758). The theme that was begun with the creation of all things, by the Gods, to work together and exist as one, reverberates throughout the text, as exemplified by the animal-like nature of the gods. In the prayer, this theme continues and seeks to bring meaning to all existence. Just as man was created of corn and water, so too, his existence continues as the crops of the land, with each season bringing a new crop.

Works Cited

Tedlock, Dennis, Trans. Popol Vuh. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: Expanded One Volume. Ed. Maynard Mack. NY: W.W. Norton, 1997:1746-59.

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