Taliesin's Ballad of the Western Campaign
Carved over Merlin's Tomb:
Within this song I praise a lord still living
Who in his time ruled from the Thule to Rome;
But when the Princess Gwen was taken to
The Keep of Mirth upon Annuven Isle
And bound in thick blue chains, then all of us
Outnumbering the dead approached Annuven.
Save seven none returnéd from the Keep of Mirth.
Am I not far-famed if this song is heard? The fortress of four sides contained a cauldron And from it came the dead like poetry. By nine dead maidens it was stirred to action, And ridged with pearls, the cauldron of Annuven, And we had not a cauldron of our own. The sword of Nimuë leapt from its scabbard. Before the Uffren Gates a lamp was burning. Outnumbering Magog we had come thither. Save seven none returnéd from the Eight-Walled Hall.
Am I not far-famed if this song is sung? Yea, even at the Castle of Hard Labour, Whose door is thick and steady as the mountains, Where twilight and black midnight are commingled, The wine was bright they spilled before our sailing. Outnumbering the grapes upon the vine. Save seven none returnéd from the Drunken Castle.
Now if I speak untruly I am blamed. We lacked so much, they laughed at all our power. The sentinel refused to hear our plea. Three score the ape-tailed men peered o’er the wall, And, though we had set out, in all our pride, Outnumbering the bees within the trees, Save seven none returnéd from the Wenching Seat.
There is no witness from the long, thick shields, For they no longer can recall the day, The hour, or the reason that the oxen Thundered out, their horns upon the nose. Before the sentinel, before the door, Before the gate, before the three score men, Our long, thick shields darkened as they fell. Outnumbering all mice we had set out. Save seven none returnéd from the Joyous Gard.
There is no witness from the councilors. They did not see the many-leggéd ones. They did not see the slaughter at the gates. They did not see the darkness of the pool. The Sun Boy slipped in sideways through the shadows And cut the blue chains with his master’s sword. When he was done we slipped on bloody footsteps Back to the ships we had no men to man. What were the spoils of Annuven then? One song, one Gwen, the memories of slaughter. Outnumbering the grains of sand we went. Save seven none returnéd from the Palace of Glass.
The princess sat and mumbled in the gloves Of ermine trim that she would always wear And dreamed that someday she would be a Queen, She dreamed that someday men would love and die, She dreamed that we would have the stone and cup, She dreamed that we would stage the fight again. She dreamed the blood to spill would be the apes’. She dreamed as Christ has risen we would rise And as he vanquished Satan we would triumph. She dreamed that we would sail off to the pole, She dreamed that we would find the earth’s true axis, She dreamed Christ was again upon the Cross. Does water follow one course? Does the wind? Is there one spark in fire of fierce tumult? Who knows when day divided is from night? At last we knew. We knew about the night. Seven returnéd from the Citadel Of Flowers and of Joy. But was I one?——
