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beech-tree.
The holly dark green,  
105 He was very courageous:
Defended with spikes on every side,
Wounding the hands.
The long-enduring poplars
Very much broken in fight.  
110 The plundered fern ;
The brooms with their offspring:
The furze was not well behaved
Until he was tamed.
The heath was giving consolation,  
115 Comforting the people.
The black cherry-tree was pursuing.
The oak-tree swiftly moving ,
Before him tremble heaven and earth ,
Stout doorkeeper against the foe  
120 Is his name in all lands.
The corn-cockle bound together,
Was given to be burnt.
Others were rejected
On account of the holes made  
125 By great violence
In the field of battle.
Very wrathful the…
Cruel the gloomy ash.
Bashful the chestnut-tree ,
130 Retreating from happiness.
There shall be a black darkness,
There shall be a shaking of the mountain ,
There shall be a purifying furnace ,
There shall first be a great wave ,
135 And when the shout shall be heard –
Putting forth new leaves are the tops of the beech ,
Changing form and being renewed from a withered state;
Entangled are the tops of the oak.
From the Gorchan of Maelderw.  
140 Smiling at the side of the rock
( Was ) the pear-tree not of an ardent nature.
Neither of mother or father ,
When I was made ,
Was my blood or body;  
145 Of nine kinds of faculties,
Of fruit of fruits ,
Of fruit God made me ,
Of the blossom of the mountain primrose ,
Of the buds of trees and shrubs ,
150 Of earth of earthly kind.
When I was made
Of the blossoms of the nettle,
Of the mater of the ninth wave,
I was spell-bound by Math  
155 Before I became immortal.
I was spell-bound by Gwydion ,
Great enchanter of the Britons ,
Of Eurys, of Eurwn ,
Of Euron, of Medron ,
160 In myriads of secrets ,
I am as learned as Math….
I know about the Emperor
When he was half burnt.
I know the star-knowledge  
165 Of stars before the earth (was made) ,
Whence I was born,
How many worlds there are.
It is the custom of accomplished bards
To recite the praise of their country.  
170 have played in Lloughor,
I have slept in purple.
Was I not in the enclosure
With Dylan Ail Mor ,
On a couch in the centre  
175 Between the two knees of the prince
Upon two blunt spears?
When from heaven came
The torrents into the deep ,
Rushing with violent impulse.  
180 (I know) four-score songs ,
For administering to their pleasure.
There is neither old nor young,
Except me as to their poems,
Any other singer who knows the whole of the nine hundred  
185 Which are known to me,
Concerning the blood-spotted sword.
Honour is my guide.
Profitable learning is from the Lord.
(I know) of the slaying of the boar,  
190 Its appearing, its disappearing ,
Its knowledge of languages.
(I know) the light whose name is Splendour ,
And the number of the ruling lights
That scatter rays of fire  
195 High above the deep.
I have been a spotted snake upon a hill;
I have been a viper in a lake;
I have been an evil star formerly.
I have been a weight in a mill. (?)  
200 My cassock is red all over.
I prophesy no evil.
Four score puffs of smoke
To every one who will carry them away:
And a million of angels ,
205 On the point of my knife.
Handsome is the yellow horse ,
But a hundred times better
Is my cream-coloured one,
Swift as the sea-mew,  
210 Which cannot pass me
Between the sea and the shore.
Am I not pre-eminent in the field of blood?
I have a hundred shares of the spoil.
My wreath is of red jewels,  
215 Of gold is the border of my shield.
There has not been born one so good as I ,
Or ever known ,
Except Goronwy ,
From the dales of Edrywy.  
220 Long and white are my fingers ,
It is long since I was a herdsman.
I travelled over the earth
Before I became a learned person.
I have travelled, I have made a circuit,  
225 have slept in a hundred islands;
I have dwelt in a hundred cities.
Learned Druids ,
Prophesy ye of Arthur?
Or is it me they celebrate ,
230 And the Crucifixion of Christ,
And the Day of Judgement near at hand ,
And one