Taliesin Quotes (102 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Pleasant Things of Taliesin
Context: A pleasant virtue, extreme penance to an extreme course;
Also pleasant, when God is delivering me.
Pleasant, the carousal that hinders not mental exertion;
Also pleasant, to drink together about horns.

“O God, the God of formation,
Ruler, strengthener of blood.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: O God, the God of formation,
Ruler, strengthener of blood.
Christ Jesus, that guards.
Princes loud-proclaiming go their course
For a decaying acquisition.

Taliesin: Trending quotes

“I have fled in the shape of a raven of prophetic speech,
in the shape of a satirizing fox,
in the shape of a sure swift,
in the shape of a squirrel vainly hiding.”

Taliesin

The Tale of Taleisin
Context: I have fled in the shape of a raven of prophetic speech,
in the shape of a satirizing fox,
in the shape of a sure swift,
in the shape of a squirrel vainly hiding.
I have fled in the shape of a red deer,
in the shape of iron in a fierce fire,
in the shape of a sword sowing death and disaster,
in the shape of a bull, relentlessly struggling.

“Let them make their war.
Whence come night and day?”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin
Context: Let them make their war.
Whence come night and day?
Whence will the eagle become gray?
Whence is it that night is dark?
Whence is it that the linnet is green?
The ebullition of the sea,
How is it not seen?

War , Night

“Which was first, is it darkness, is it light?
Or Adam, when he existed, on what day was he created?
Or under the earth’s surface, what the foundation?
He who is a legionary will receive no instruction.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin

Light

Taliesin Quotes

“Princes loud-proclaiming go their course
For a decaying acquisition.”

Taliesin

“Those that placed me on the cross
I knew when young.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: Those that placed me on the cross
I knew when young.
That drove me on the tree,
My head hung down.
Stretched were my two feet,
So sad their destiny.
Stretched with extreme pain
The bones of my feet.
Stretched were my two arms,
Their burden will not be.
Stretched were my two shoulders,
So diligently it was done.
Stretched were the nails,
Within my heart.
Stretched was the spiking,
Between my two eyes.
Thick are the holes
Of the crown of thorns in my head.
The lance was struck
And my side was pierced.
It will be struck to you also,
As your right hand (struck me).
To you there will be no forgiveness,
For piercing me with spears.
And the Ruler we knew not
When thou wert hung.

“The dawn smiles, repelling gloom”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Song of the Horses
Context: The dawn smiles, repelling gloom,
At the dawn with violence,
At every meet season,
At the meet season of his turnings,
At the four stages of his course,
I will extol him that judges violence,
Of the strong din, deep his wrath.
I am not a man, cowardly, gray,
A scum near the wattle.

Smile

“I am a bard; I will not disclose secrets to slaves;
I am a guide: I am expert in contests.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin
Context: 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.

Secret

“I have been a course, I have been an eagle.
I have been a coracle in the seas:
I have been compliant in the banquet.
I have been a drop in a shower;
I have been a sword in the grasp of the hand
I have been a shield in battle.
I have been a string in a harp,
Disguised for nine years,
in water, in foam.
I have been sponge in the fire,
I have been wood in the covert”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Battle of the Trees

Water , Sea

“The love-diffusing [Lord] will separate us.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: The love-diffusing [Lord] will separate us.
The land of worldly weather,
A wind will melt the trees:
There will pass away every tranquillity
When the mountains are burnt.
There will be again inhabitants
With horns before kings;
The mighty One will send them,
Sea, and land, and lake.
There will be again a trembling terror,
And a moving of the earth,
And above every field,
And ashes the rocks will be;
With violent exertion, concealment,
And burning of lake.

Love

“You must not grieve so heavily.
Better are good than evil omens.”

Taliesin

The Tale of Taleisin
Context: You must not grieve so heavily.
Better are good than evil omens.
though I am weak and small,
Spumed with Dylan's wave,
I shall be better for you
Than three hundred shares of salmon.

Evil

“Songs and minstrels.
And the hymns of angels,
Will raise from the graves,
They will entreat from the beginning.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: Songs and minstrels.
And the hymns of angels,
Will raise from the graves,
They will entreat from the beginning.
They will entreat together publicly,
On so great a destiny.
Those whom the sea has destroyed
Will make a great shout,
At the time when cometh
He, that will separate them.

Angels

“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.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Fold of the Bards
Context: 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.

Love , Tree , Anger

“There was a calling on the Creator,
Upon Christ for causes,
Until when the Eternal
Should deliver those whom he had made.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Battle of the Trees
Context: There was a calling on the Creator,
Upon Christ for causes,
Until when the Eternal
Should deliver those whom he had made.
The Lord answered them,
Through language and elements:
Take the forms of the principal trees,
Arranging yourselves in battle array,
And restraining the public.

Christ

“There will be commotions and turbulent times,
Seek no peace — it will not accrue to thee.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin
Context: There will be commotions and turbulent times,
Seek no peace — it will not accrue to thee.
The Ruler of Heaven knows thy prayer.
From his ardent wrath thy praise has propitiated him
The Sovereign King of Glory addresses me with wisdom
Hast thou seen the dominus fortis?
Knowest thou the profound prediction domini?

Peace , Time

“Let them make their war.
Whence come night and day?
Whence will the eagle become gray?
Whence is it that night is dark?
Whence is it that the linnet is green?
The ebullition of the sea,
How is it not seen?”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin

Sea

“Too many do not live, of those that know me.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Song of the Horses
Context: I have been a sow, I have been a buck,
I have been a sage, I have been a snout,
I have been a horn, I have been a wild sow,
I have been a shout in battle.
I have been a torrent on the slope,
I have been a wave on the extended shore.
I have been the light sprinkling of a deluge,
I have been a cat with a speckled head on three trees.
I have been a circumference, I have been a head.
A goat on an elder-tree.
I have been a crane well filled, a sight to behold.
Very ardent the animals of Morial,
They kept a good stock.
Of what is below the air, say the hateful men,
Too many do not live, of those that know me.

“It broke out with matchless fury.
The rapid vehement fire.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Song of the Horses
Context: It broke out with matchless fury.
The rapid vehement fire.
Him we praise above the earth,
Fire, the fiery meteor of the dawn.
Above the high gale,
Higher than every cloud.
Great his animal.

“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.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Fold of the Bards
Context: 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.

Love

“Ye have committed wickedness
Against the Creator.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: Ye have committed wickedness
Against the Creator.
A hundred thousand angels
Are to me witnesses,
Who came to conduct me
After my hanging,
When hanging cruelly,
Myself to deliver me
In heaven there was trembling
When I had been hung.
When I cried out Eli!

“When the trees were enchanted,
In the expectation of not being trees,
The trees uttered their voices
From strings of harmony,
The disputes ceased.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Battle of the Trees
Context: When the trees were enchanted,
In the expectation of not being trees,
The trees uttered their voices
From strings of harmony,
The disputes ceased.
Let us cut short heavy days,
A female restrained the din.
She came forth altogether lovely.
The head of the line, the head was a female.
The advantage of a sleepless cow
Would not make us give way.
The blood of men up to our thighs,
The greatest of importunate mental exertions
Sported in the world.
And one has ended
From considering the deluge,
And Christ crucified
And the day of judgement near at hand.

Tree

“I will declare when I am in the gravel,
From the maintenance of gifts,
From being numbered, from going to be a martyr
In the reckoning of Saint Segerno.
From a word when sin may be to me,
Let there be no sigh from those that hear me.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Elegy of the Thousand Sons

“I have been a sow, I have been a buck,
I have been a sage, I have been a snout,
I have been a horn, I have been a wild sow,
I have been a shout in battle.”

Taliesin

“The number that have been, and will be,
Above heaven, below heaven, how many there are.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Elegy of the Thousand Sons
Context: The number that have been, and will be,
Above heaven, below heaven, how many there are.
And as many as have believed in revelation,
Believed through the will of the Lord.
As many as are on wrath through the circles,
Have mercy, God, on thy kindred.
May I be meek, the turbulent Ruler,
May I not endure, before I am without motion.
Grievously complaineth every lost one,
Hastily claimeth every needy one.

“I have come to salvage Elphin's honor and his freedom. Taliesin am I, primary chief bard to Elphin.”

Taliesin

The Tale of Taleisin
Context: I have come to salvage Elphin's honor and his freedom. Taliesin am I, primary chief bard to Elphin.

Primary chief poet
Am I to Elphin.
And my native country
Is the place of the Summer Stars.
John the Divine
Called me Merlin,
But all future kings
Shall call me Taliesin.

Freedom

“The praising thy mercy.
There hath not been here;
O supreme Ruler”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: The praising thy mercy.
There hath not been here;
O supreme Ruler;
There hath not been; there will not be,
One so good as the Lord.
There hath not been born in the day of the people
Any one equal to God.
And no one will acknowledge
Any one equal to him.
Above heaven, below heaven,
There is no Ruler but he.
Above sea, below sea,
He created us.

“Fire, the fiery meteor of the dawn.
Above the high gale,
Higher than every cloud.
Great his animal.”

Taliesin

Animals

“I will offer a prayer to the Trinity,
May the Eternal grant me to praise thee!
In the present course, dangerous
Our work; destruction is a slight impulse of wrath.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Elegy of the Thousand Sons
Context: I will offer a prayer to the Trinity,
May the Eternal grant me to praise thee!
In the present course, dangerous
Our work; destruction is a slight impulse of wrath.
They reckon of the saints a tribe,
King of heaven, may I be eloquent about thee!
Before the separation of my soul from my flesh.

“Do not the brave know
The greatness of their progeny?”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: Do not the brave know
The greatness of their progeny?
A country present will meet thee,
And while it may possibly be yours,
Three hundred thousand years save one,
A short hour of the day of everlasting life.

“I am a bard, and I am a harper,
I am a piper, and I am a crowder.
Of seven score musicians the very great enchanter.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Death-song of Uther Pendragon
Context: Abiding in heaven was he, my desire,
Against the eagle, against the fear of the unskilful.
I am a bard, and I am a harper,
I am a piper, and I am a crowder.
Of seven score musicians the very great enchanter.

“Dominus virtutum
Has gathered together those that were in slavery,
And before I existed He had perceived me.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The First Address of Taliesin
Context: 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!

“I was with my king
In the heavens
When Lucifer fell
Into the deepest hell.”

Taliesin

The Tale of Taleisin
Context: I was with my king
In the heavens
When Lucifer fell
Into the deepest hell.
I carried the banner
Before Alexander.
I know the names of the stars
From the North to the South.

Hell

“John the Divine
Called me Merlin,
But all future kings
Shall call me Taliesin.”

Taliesin

Future

“Sovereign of heaven, let my messages not be rejected.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Death-song of Uther Pendragon
Context: May the countenance of Prydain be bright for my guidance.
Sovereign of heaven, let my messages not be rejected.

“I have not been without battle.
Bitter affliction was frequent
Between me and my cousins.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), Oh God, the God of Formation
Context: I have not been without battle.
Bitter affliction was frequent
Between me and my cousins.
Frequent trials fell
Between me and my fellow-countrymen.
There was frequent contention
Between me and the wretched.

Affliction

“Sure-hoofed is my steed impelled by the spur;
The high sprigs of alder are on thy shield;
Bran art thou called, of the glittering branches.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Battle of the Trees, Englynion Cad Goddau
Variant: Sure-hoofed is my steed in the day of battle

“I have been in a multitude of shapes,
Before I assumed a consistent form.
I have been a sword, narrow, variegated,
I will believe when it is apparent.
I have been a tear in the air,
I have been the dullest of stars.
I have been a word among letters,
I have been a book in the origin.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Battle of the Trees
Context: I have been in a multitude of shapes,
Before I assumed a consistent form.
I have been a sword, narrow, variegated,
I will believe when it is apparent.
I have been a tear in the air,
I have been the dullest of stars.
I have been a word among letters,
I have been a book in the origin.
I have been the light of lanterns,
A year and a half.
I have been a continuing bridge,
Over three score river mouths.

Books , Star , Tear

“Fair Elphin, cease your lament!
Swearing profits no-one.
It is not evil to hope
Nor does any man see what supports him”

Taliesin

The Tale of Taleisin
Context: Fair Elphin, cease your lament!
Swearing profits no-one.
It is not evil to hope
Nor does any man see what supports him,
Not an empty treasure is the prayer of Cynllo,
Nor does God break his promise.

Hope , Support , Evil

“I gave to an old chief
very great swords of protection.”

Taliesin

Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Death-song of Uther Pendragon
Context: I shared my shelter,
a ninth share in Arthur's valour.
I broke a hundred forts.
I slew a hundred stewards.
I bestowed a hundred mantles.
I cut off a hundred heads.
I gave to an old chief
very great swords of protection.