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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Taliesin

Once upon a time,
a long time years years ago,
there was a witch called Caridwen.
She lived in a huge palace with marble halls
built on a rock in the middle of a lake.
In that palace with her lived a huge crow,
an old nam,
and her son
who was a monster.
But she didn't think so
and loved him dearly.
He was horrible,
and was always tormenting animals.
There was a little boy, too,
who was chained to a huge bubbling cauldron
in the middle of the largest marble hall.
The witch had come one night
and stolen him out of his bed in his parents house
and carried him to the palace
on the back of the back crow.
His name was Gwion and he was very very scared...
She gave him a ladle
and made him stir the cauldron day and night,
and if he stopped she whipped him
or wouldn't give him any more dry bread.
In the cauldron was a spell of wisdom
to make her monster son more wise,
and it had to cook for a year and a day.
But on the very last day of the year,
Gwion splashed three drops of the burning liquid on his finger
and "aieeee"...he cried,
and put it in his mouth.
Then he had tasted the spell and the cauldron exploded,
exploded into thousands of pieces,
and it was Gwion who was suddenly wise.
He was so wise he could see everything,
he could even see the witch Caridwen
gathering herbs at the North Pole.
Suddenly she turned sharply towards him
with a terrible scream of rage.
"You have tasted the spell meant for my son", she cried.
Then she came flying, flying,
over the seas and the mountains,
the towns and the villages,
down down to chase him and catch him
and punish him for ever and ever...

But he could now change into a bird
so he flew away up towards the sun,
but she changed into an eagle and flew after him
faster faster catch him up.
So he fell down through the sky into the river
and became a fish,
hiding among the weeds.
She became a fish, too,
and seam swam always after him,
but then he got tired,
and changed into a grain of corn
and hid in a sack,
but she changed into a chicken
and snap, snap, got in the sack and ate him up.
So now he was in her stomach,
and grew and grew into a baby
so that she would give birth to him.
And she did,
but so that she could kill that baby. "
Now I can kill you" she cried...
but what a beautiful baby,
she can't she can't
what will she do now?

So she put him in a old leather sack
and threw him into the river shrieking
"go away, go away, never look at me again".

The sack floated quietly down the river
many many miles,
by trees, and houses, and big pools,
and then got caught up against a boat.

It was a poor man's boat,
he and his good wife were in despair,
because they had no food or money.
He went to the river to fish for supper,
he found the sack,
what a treasure,
what a beautiful baby,
his name was Taliesin...
As soon as he took this golden baby home,
their fortunes changed,
and they had work and food.
The baby grew into a boy,
with beautiful clear face and strange green eyes,
but joyful and singing always,
such songs,
all the people would listen and wouldn't move.

He won a contest at the court of the king against all the bards,
his song was light like birdsong
and the people were entranced.
Then he kissed the good man and wide
and went off through the world singing marvels,
at the court of the king,
through the countryside,
through the towns,
n castles and in cottages,
to everyone who would listen,
and his stories were like spell,
and all the people listening were spellbound.

--Gilli Smyth "Mother"

# posted by will : 6:51 AM  0 comments

Monday, May 02, 2005

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?
The feet, mechanical, go round
A wooden way
Of ground, or air, or ought,
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment, like a stone.
This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.

# posted by will : 6:12 AM  2 comments