Inspired by The Book of Pheryllt.
Otherworldly Bard to Elphin am I:
shape shifter from the region of the Summer Stars.
Many have confused me with Myrddin,
but I was once his teacher.
I have lived countless lives
in a myriad of forms:
I have been king, queen, noble and prince;
beggar, slave and condemned man...
I have been a savage lion and a domestic cat.
I was once a Viking longship upon the ocean.
I have been a blade of grass growing in a meadow
and a snowflake falling upon Stonehenge.
I have been a moonbeam and a new-born lamb;
a spider in her web and a dew drop in the morning.
I have been an Oak Tree in a Forest,
a scorpion in the desert heat.
I have been a wave breaking on the shore
and a single grain of wheat eaten by Ceridwen...
Then for nine months I was little Gwion
growing inside her womb -
to be born as Guardian of Tradition.
I have passed through the Web of Ariadne,
have dwelt within Avalon's Hill.
I was fluent before being gifted with speech.
I have tutored all intelligences.
I alone built Nimrhod's Tower.
I am the tetragrammation.
My origins predate The Creation.
I shall exist when the Universe is no more.
It is not known whether my body
is of flesh or of Spirit,
for I am legion.
Simultaneous participation
in every aspect of Creation
has rendered me omniscient:
I have lived your past,
I share your present,
I am your future
because I am learned Druid...
I am Taliesin.
Otherworldly Bard to Elphin am I:
shape shifter from the region of the Summer Stars.
Many have confused me with Myrddin,
but I was once his teacher.
I have lived countless lives
in a myriad of forms:
I have been king, queen, noble and prince;
beggar, slave and condemned man...
I have been a savage lion and a domestic cat.
I was once a Viking longship upon the ocean.
I have been a blade of grass growing in a meadow
and a snowflake falling upon Stonehenge.
I have been a moonbeam and a new-born lamb;
a spider in her web and a dew drop in the morning.
I have been an Oak Tree in a Forest,
a scorpion in the desert heat.
I have been a wave breaking on the shore
and a single grain of wheat eaten by Ceridwen...
Then for nine months I was little Gwion
growing inside her womb -
to be born as Guardian of Tradition.
I have passed through the Web of Ariadne,
have dwelt within Avalon's Hill.
I was fluent before being gifted with speech.
I have tutored all intelligences.
I alone built Nimrhod's Tower.
I am the tetragrammation.
My origins predate The Creation.
I shall exist when the Universe is no more.
It is not known whether my body
is of flesh or of Spirit,
for I am legion.
Simultaneous participation
in every aspect of Creation
has rendered me omniscient:
I have lived your past,
I share your present,
I am your future
because I am learned Druid...
I am Taliesin.
Thank you this. I love the tale of Taliesin and Cerridwen. The way the poem reads in the here and now feels as if Taliesin is speaking to me. Very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear from you, Vivienne. I have missed you!I do hope all is well with you.
DeleteI feel that perhaps Taliesin is speaking to all of us in this troubled time - if we are only able to listen.
Many, many thanks. xxx
Enjoyed, Very worldly in an internal way, very clever..
ReplyDeleteThank you Anthony. That is much appreciated:)
DeleteGosh, this is just awesome!
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed this poem.
Bravo, my friend, bravo on the writing, so creative!
xx
Thank you so much, Margie!
DeleteYour kind words truly mean so much to me xxx
For me, this is without doubt your best poem yet. It is powerfully compelling and works well at every level.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you Dave...from the Soul. Truly.:)
DeleteThis poem was amazing...I may not have understood what it was about but that's just because I'm simple-minded :)
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely not simple-minded Keith!
DeleteUnless you've read The Book of Pheryllt (or are a Druid), it is unlikely you will have heard of Taliesin.
This is just one of my passions!
Many thanks for bearing with me and reading this. I so appreciate it.:)
wow and damn girl how did 'ya do that...don,t expect me often \I;ve only been trying for 3 days now stupid new laptop
ReplyDeleteI always love hearing from you Lorraine...whether often or infrequent!
DeleteI do hope your new laptop soon sorts itself out!!
You'll probably have noticed I've been absent all week too, as I've on one of my jaunts into the forest without mains electricity.
Oh how I miss the internet though...:/
I tamed the beast, and re-opened my deleted blogs I was on blogger and it showed all my blogs and said undelete? what is one supppose to do^
ReplyDeleteI wonder if, like me, you sometimes find all things online an utter pain?
DeleteI am so frustrated by it sometimes that I have to log off and come back to it another day! haha:D
a powerful and compelling write :-) ...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Celestial!
DeleteI just felt the need to write about something Spiritual...:)
'Shape shifter from the region of the Summer Stars' - This poem truly captures the imagination, very passionate write! Love
ReplyDeletethe imagery and the creative content, just fabulous Ygraine!
I had been intending to write about Taliesin for ages, but the words just refused to come. Then I awoke at 3am one morning with them in my mind!
DeleteThank you so much, Rose.:)