APPENDIX.—No. II.

HANES TALIESIN, OR THE HISTORY OF TALIESIN

The primary domestic bard
Am I to Elphin,
And my original country
Is the region of Cherubims.
Joannes the divine
Called me Merddin,
At length every king
Will call me Taliesin.
I was full nine months
In the womb of mother Cyridwen;[726]
I was little Gwion heretofore,
Taliesin am I now.
I was with my Lord
In the superior state,
When Lucifer did fall
To the infernal deep.
I have borne a banner
Before Alexander:
I know the names of the stars
From the north to Auster.
I have been in the circle of Gwdion
Tetragammaton;[727]
I conducted Hean[728]
To the depth of Ebron vale,
I was in Canaan
When Absalom was slain,
I was in the Court of Don[729]
Before Gwdion was born,
I was an attendant
On Eli and Enoc;
I was on the cross-devoting sentence
Of the Son of the merciful God.
I have been chief keeper
Of the work of Nimrod's tower;
I have been three revolutions
In the circle of Arianrod.[730]
I was in the Ark		With Noah and Alpha;
I beheld the destruction
Of Sodoma and Gomorra;
I was in Africa
Before Rome was built:
I am come here
To the remnants of Troia.
I was with my Lord
In the manger of the she-ass;
I strengthened Moses
Through the Jordan water.
I have been in the firmament
With Mary Magdalen;
I have been gifted with genius
From the Cauldron of Cyridwen.
I have been bard of the harp
To the Teon of Lochlyn;[731]
I have endured hunger
For the son of the Virgin.
I have been in the White Hill[732]
In the court of Cynvelyn,
In stocks and fetters,
For a year and a day.
I have had my abode
In the kingdom of the Trinity;
It is not known what is my body,
Whether flesh or fish.
I have been an instructor
To the whole universe;
I shall remain till the day of doom
On the face of the earth,
I have been in an agitated seat
Above the circle of Sidin,[733]
And that continues revolving
Between three elements:
Is it not a wonder to the world,
That it reflects not a splendour?

[From Meyrick's History of Cardiganshire, p. 65, 2 vols. London, 1806.]

FOOTNOTES:

[726] Venus.

[727] The Galaxy.

[728] The Divine Spirit.

[729] Or Llys Don, i.e. Cassiopeia.

[730] The Northern Crown.

[731] Denmark.

[732] Tower of London.

[733] Perhaps Caer Sidin, or the Zodiac.