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;[1]
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;[2]
I conducted Hean[3]
To the depth of Ebron vale,
I was in Canaan
When Absalom was slain,
I was in the Court of Don[4]
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.[5]
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;[6]
I have endured hunger
For the son of the Virgin.
I have been in the White Hill[7]
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,[8]
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.]
