
“Poetry is the work of the bard and of the people who inspire him.”
Poesia (1891)
Book of Taliesin (c. 1275?), The Fold of the Bards
“Poetry is the work of the bard and of the people who inspire him.”
Poesia (1891)
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.
“Nuance: for best results apply with sledge hammer.”
The Well-Spoken Thesaurus (2011)
“As when in harp and song adept, a bard
Unlab'ring strains the chord to a new lyre.”
XXI. 406–407 (tr. William Cowper).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
(8th February 1823) Medallion Wafers: Head of Tyrtëus
The London Literary Gazette, 1823
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Charles McPherson, February 25, 1773, cited from H. A. Washington (ed.) The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Maury, 1853) vol. 1, pp. 195-6.
Criticism
Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book I: The Book of Three (1964), Chapter 12
Scottish Folklore and Opera (1992).
The Golden Violet - title poem - introduction
The Golden Violet (1827)