2. The man who rushes forth, when the foe lie in ambush, is the bedfellow of him who rests in the narrow house, under the tumulus.-Let him have the habit, but not the disposition of the over-cautious.* Mix not thou the cruel with the brave! If the brave be broken, fair is his unblemished character-his fame is not carried away. I have devised a huge standard-the mysterious glory of the great field of battle, and its excessive toils. There the victor directs his view over Manon,† the luminary, the Arkite with the lofty front, and the red dragon, the Búdd (victory) of the Pharaon (higher powers)-it shall accompany the people, flying in the breeze. 3. Trengsyd a gwydei neb ae eneu, Na chyngwyd, gil, na chyngor. Nyt mwy ry uudyt y esgor, Esgor eidin rac dor. Kenan, kein mur e ragor, Gossodes ef gledyf ar glawd Meiwyr. * That is-Let him be circumspect, but not pusillanimous. There seems to be more sober, good sense in the maxims of this paragraph, than what usually falls to the lot of a conjuror. + Mr. Owen renders Manon, a paragon of beauty, a goddess. The word is, in this passage, connected with the masculine epithets, Disgleiriaur, the luminary, and Archawr, the Arkite. It is, therefore, a manifest title of the Helioarkite divinity, whom the Bard also styles Talachon; which I interpret, with the lofty front: but the term may be of foreign origin, and imply Tal Chan, Sol Rex. ‡ Adav-awn, united hands: it is, perhaps, an error of the copyist for Advaön, the people. 3. He should have perished! Even he who brought down ruin with his mouth,* by causing the army to halt on the march, when the ranks were drawn out, and his effective train was as a huge wall, mounted with ashen spears. In the fluctuating sea,† thou canst mark neither cooperation, design, nor counsel-the front of the circling mound protects their lives; but no more can they extricate themselves, nor be delivered, before the barrier of Eidin. Kenan, the fair bulwark of excellence, set his sword upon the rampart of the celebrators of May. Budic e ren eny: Annavd Wledic, Y gynnwithic, Kynlas kynweis, 4. Dwuyn dyvynweis. Kychuech ny chwyd kychwerw. Kychwenyches, Kychwenychwy Enlli weles, • A gwyddei néb ae eneu—who made a fall with his mouth. This sarcasm is evidently aimed at Vortigern, who checked the ardour of his victorious forces, upon the second landing of Hengist, and ratified a friendly convention with the Saxons, as I have already observed in the notes upon the Gododin. From this circumstance, the British prince obtained the opprobrious epithet, Gwrtheneu, of the ill-omened mouth. +Alluding to the votaries of Druidism, who were thrown into the utmost confusion by the sudden massacre which took place, whilst they were celebrating the solemnities of May; and with difficulty protected their lives within the mound of the great temple, till Kenan, the prince, that is, Eidiol, or Ambrosius, rallied them from their consternation, and planned the means of defence. See the Gododin, 4. Beneficent was the exertion of the supreme-the sovereign inclosed, for the unadvised, grey-headed chief ministers, who devised deep counsels. The mixture of sweet* will not produce the mutually bitter-I have joined in the common wish, the general wish of those who saw Enlli,+ filled with the fair aspect of returning prosperity, in the sacred course, on a serene morning, when Hu sent forth his dancing beams, making this demand" I require men to be born again, in consideration of those liberal ones who will be lost!"-Those blessed ones -they have been intoxicated and lost! 5. Gogled Run, Ren, ry dynnit! Blin, blaen, blen blenwyd. E rwng drem Dremrud: Dremryt, ny welet y odeu, ddogyn ryd: Ny welet y odeu dhogyn fyd, Mor eredic-Dar digeryd, Kentaf digonir Kanwelw, Kynnwythic lleithic llwyrdelw, * That is, the unanimous counsel of the hoary Druids. + The island of Bardsea, which was sacred to the mysteries of the Helioarkite god, whom the Bard feigns to have foretold the recent calamity by an oracle, accompanied with a prophecy of returning prosperity. This Druidical fraud must have been very seasonable in the days of Aneurin. t The original is ry annet; but I think my translation is accurate: it is usual, in this ancient copy, to double the n, where the preceding vowel is long; thus cann for cân, gwynn for gwyn, &c. 5. Is it the Northern Rhun, O thou supreme, that thou drawest forth! The gross chief,+ who has returned to me, shall be forced to retrace his steps-For steeds they call, more than for the circling mead. In the network which surrounds the sovereign, dispose thou the threads of wrath. Dispose wrath in the flowing streamer. Irksome in front be the glance of the radiant presence!§ Let the sovereign stand firm, amongst the rays of the ruddy glancer-the ruddy glancer, whose purpose cannot be viewed in perfect freedom-whose purpose cannot be viewed, in a state of security, by those who plow the sea. By a shout which cannot be disparaged, the chief of pale and livid aspect-even he whose throne is involved in utter confusion, will be first convinced, before Gounddelw (the white image) is covered, that Maelderw (the proficient of the oaks) is a mighty operator. 6. Delwat dieirydaf Rwysc rwyf bre, Rymun rymdyre: Probably the son of Einion. This Rhûn lived in the fifth century, and was styled one of the three haughty chiefs of Britain. He was the grandson of Cunedda, whose patrimony was in Cumberland and North Britain. + Hengist, who had returned to Britain: his gross bulk is taken notice of by Cuhelyn and Aneurin. The Bard returns to his web of heroism. The threads of wrath seem to denote some colour which was hoisted, when the army neither gave nor received quarter. The phrases-radiant presence, and ruddy glancer, must be referred to the Helio-arkite divinity, the patron of the pagan Britons. This seems to allude to the shout of determined vengeance, described in the Gododin, Song 15. ¶ I understand this as the name of the magical standard. Ysgavl dhisgynnyawd wlawd gymre; Ny odiweud o vevyl veint gwre. 6. I will immortalize the form of him who brandishes the. spear, imitating, in his career, the ruler* of the mount, the pervader of the land, by whose influence I am eminently moved. With active tumult did he descend to the ravine between the hills; nor did his presence form a running shadow. Whatever fate may befal the lofty land, disgrace shall never be the portion of this assembled train! Here Gwarchan Maelderw concludes. What follows in the Archaiologia, consists of various fragments of the Gododin, and other pieces of the sixth century. In the ancient MS. from which I copy, these detached scraps are properly separated from the preceding poem, and from each other, by large capital initials. The solar divinity, who, as we are here told, paid the Bard an extraordi nary visit in the mystic cell. END OF THE APPENDIX. REMARKS |