Guess who is this creature
Before us outspeeding,
Begot ere the flood,
Without flesh, without blood,
Without bones, without veins,
Without head, without foot,
Not older or younger
Than when he drew breath
At earth's first beginning;
And no design spinning
Of fear or of death,
Through thirst or through hunger,
Through anger or scaith.
Great God! when he cometh,
How the sea foameth
At the breath of his nostrils,
The blast of his mouth!
As it smites from the south
Foameth and spumeth
And roars on the shores!
Now on the wold,
And now in the wood,
Without hand or foot
Escaping pursuit;
Jealous Destiny's rage
Cannot wrinkle his age,
Though coeval was he
With all cycles of Time,
Nay, still in his prime
Ere they were beginning to be!
All the face of the earth
Is his mighty demesne;
He has ne'er come to birth;
He has never been seen,
Yet causeth, I ween,
Consternation and dearth!
On the sea, on the land,
Unviewed and unviewing,
Pursued and pursuing,
Yet never at hand.
On the land, on the sea,
Unviewing, unviewed,
Though in sight of the Sun;
Ne'er at command,
Howe'er he be sued!
Indispensable,
Incomprehensible,
Matchless one!
Out of four regions,
Alone, yet in legions,
He winneth!
Over the seat
Of the great, storm-blown
Marble stone
His journey with joy he beginneth.
He is loud-voiced and mute
He yields no salute;
Vehement, bold,
O'er the desolate wold
He outrunneth!
He is mute and loud-voiced;
With bluster defying,
O'er the half of the world
His banner unfurled
He is flying!
He is good, he is evil
Half angel, half devil;
Manifest never,
Hidden for ever!
He is evil and good!
Hither and yonder
Intent upon plunder;
In repairing it mindless,
Yet, therewithal, sinless!
He is moist, he is dry,
He will fly
From the glow of the sun,
And the chill of the moon,
Who yieldeth small worth
Of heat for the earth;
To profit thereby.
The Master that made him
Gave all things their birth
God Himself, the Beginner
And Ender of Earth.
Who praise not His power
Still strike a false string,
Who exalt not the Father
Shall tunelessly sing!
Taliesin [Taliessyn] (6th century) Wales
Transalted by Alfred Perceval Graves
Source: Welsh poetry old and new, in English verse by Alfred Perceval Graves, Longmans, Green, and co., 1912
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