Taliesin

Quotes

1. I am a harmonious one; I am a clear singer.

   I am steel; I am a druid.

   I am an artificer; I am a scientific one.

   I am a serpent; I am love; I will indulge in feasting.

   I am not a confused bard drivelling,

   When songsters sing a song by memory,

   They will not make wonderful cries;

   May I be receiving them.

   Like receiving clothes without a hand,

   Like sinking in a lake without swimming

   The stream boldly rises tumultuously in degree.

2. 

   I am a bard; I will not disclose secrets to slaves;

   I am a guide: I am expert in contests.

   If he would sow, he would plough; he would plough, he would not reap.

   If a brother among brothers,

   Didactic Bards with swelling breasts will arise

   Who will meet around mead-vessels,

   And sing wrong poetry

   And seek rewards that will not be,

   Without law, without regulation, without gifts.

   And afterwards will become angry.

3. 

   The rock wave-surrounded, by great arrangement,

   Will convey for us a defence, a protection from the enemy.

   The rock of the chief proprietor, the head of tranquillity.

   The intoxication of meads will cause us to speak.

   I am a cell, I am a cleft, I am a restoration,

   I am the depository of song; I am a literary man;

   I love the high trees, that afford a protection above,

   And a bard that composes, without earning anger;

   I love not him that causes contention;

   He that speaks ill of the skilful shall not possess mead.

4. 

   Pleasant, the heath when it is green;

   Also pleasant, the salt marsh for cattle.

   Pleasant, the time when calves draw milk;

   Also pleasant, foamy horsemanship.

5. 

   Monks throng like a kennel of pups

   from disputing with the masters who instruct them

   whether the run of the wind is one, or one the ocean's waters

   or one the spark of fire - an illimitable clamour.

6. 

   Heroic numberer of languages,

   A conspicuous sea-shoal of goodly increase.

   A number that God will watch with extreme love.

   In heaven, in earth, at the end,

   In straits, in expanse, in form,

   In body, in soul, in habit,

   Prudence far from the presence of kings.

   I adore thee, Ruler of the land of peace.

   Let my soul be in a condition of life;

   For ever in court;

   A servant of heaven, he will not refuse me.

7. 

   Pleasant, the eagle on the shore of the sea when it flows;

   Also pleasant, sea-gulls playing.

   Pleasant, a horse with gold-enamelled trappings;

   Also pleasant to be honest in a breach.

8. 

   Dominus virtutum

   Has gathered together those that were in slavery,

   And before I existed He had perceived me.

   May I be ardently devoted to God!

   And before I desire the end of existence,

   And before the broken foam shall come upon my lips,

   And before I become connected with wooden boards,

   May there be festivals to my soul!

9. 

   There are three fountains

   In the mountain of roses,

   There is a Caer of defence

   Under the ocean’s wave.

   Illusive greeter,

   What is the porter’s name?

10. 

    Pleasant, summer, and slow long day;

    Also pleasant to pass out of chastisement

    Pleasant, the blossoms on the tops of the pear-trees;

    Also pleasant, friendship with the Creator.

11. 

    The number of saints in scores,

    Valiant men, golden their party.

    Before kings a career of praise,

    Warriors, no one was before them in demanding.

    In straits, in expanse, in every need,

    May they be a city to our body and our soul!

12. 

    Pleasant, a steed in a leather halter;

    Also pleasant, alliance with a king.

    Pleasant, the hero that destroys not the yielding;

    Also pleasant, the splendid Cymraec language.