The Siege of Valencia; The Last Constantine: with Other Poems/The Meeting of the Bards
THE MEETING OF THE BARDS.
WRITTEN FOR AN EISTEDDVOD, OR MEETING OF WELSH BARDS.
Held in London, May 22d, 1822.
The Gorseddau, or meetings of the British bards, were anciently ordained to be held in the open air, on some conspicuous situation, whilst the sun was above the horizon; or, according to the expression employed on these occasions, "in the face of the sun, and in the eye of light" The places set apart for this purpose were marked out by a circle of stones, called the circle of federation. The presiding bard stood on a large stone, (Maen Gorsedd, or the stone of assembly), in the centre. The sheathing of a sword upon this stone was the ceremony which announced the opening of a Gorsedd, or meeting. The bards always stood in their uni-coloured robes, with their heads and feet uncovered, within the circle of federation.—See Owen's Translation of the Heroic Elegies of Llywarc Hen.
Where met our bards of old?—the glorious throng,
They of the mountain and the battle-song?
They met—oh! not in kingly hall or bower,
But where wild Nature girt herself with power:
They met—where streams flash'd bright from rocky caves,
They met—where woods made moan o'er warriors' graves,
And where the torrent's rainbow spray was cast
And where dark lakes were heaving to the blast,
And midst th' eternal cliffs, whose strength defied
The crested Roman, in his hour of pride;
And where the Carnedd*[1], on its lonely hill,
Bore silent record of the mighty still;
And where the Druid's ancient Cromlech†[2] frown'd,
And the oaks breathed mysterious murmurs round.
There throng'd th' inspired of yore!—on plain or height,
In the sun’s face, beneath the eye of light,
And, baring unto heaven each noble head,
Stood in the circle, where none else might tread.
Well might their lays be lofty!—soaring thought
From Nature's presence tenfold grandeur caught:
Well might bold Freedom's soul pervade the strains,
Which startled eagles from their lone domains,
And, like a breeze, in chainless triumph, went
Up through the blue resounding firmament!
Whence came the echoes to those numbers high?
—'Twas from the battle fields of days gone by!
And from the tombs of heroes, laid to rest
With their good swords, upon the mountain's breast;
And from the watch-towers on the heights of snow,
Sever'd, by cloud and storm, from all below;
And the turf-mounds*[3], once girt by ruddy spears,
And the rock-altars of departed years.
Thence, deeply mingling with the torrent's roar,
The winds a thousand wild responses bore;
And the green land, whose every vale and glen
Doth shrine the memory of heroic men,
On all her hills awakening to rejoice,
Sent forth proud answers to her children's voice.
For us, not ours the festival to hold,
Midst the stone-circles, hallow'd thus of old;
Not where great Nature's majesty and might
First broke, all-glorious, on our infant sight;
Not near the tombs, where sleep our free and brave,
Not by the mountain-llyn†[4], the ocean wave,
In these late days we meet! —dark Mona's shore,
Eryri's‡[5] cliffs resound with harps no more!
But, as the stream (though time or art may turn
The current, bursting from its cavern'd urn,
To bathe soft vales of pasture and of flowers,
From Alpine glens, or ancient forest-bowers,)
Alike, in rushing strength or sunny sleep,
Holds on its course, to mingle with the deep;
Thus, though our paths be changed, still warm and free,
Land of the bard! our spirit flies to thee!
To thee our thoughts, our hopes, our hearts belong,
Our dreams are haunted by thy voice of song!
Nor yield our souls one patriot-feeling less,
To the green memory of thy loveliness,
Than theirs, whose harp-notes peal'd from every height,
In the sun's face, beneath the eye of light!