Ceridwen's Child
Where beauty fails to manifest
mother's love yearns to compensate
bestowing a poet's spirit
on Morfran. As Gwion Bach tends
inspiration's bubbling cauldron
it seems maternal care cannot
so readily be exercised
by proxy. A fatal error.
Awen's shining face of wisdom,
shekinah in a Celtic guise,
blinds Morda and causes Gwion's
young hand to tremble, a bard's fear
stirring, baleful, within his gut
as he licks the golden liquid
clean - potion that seeds a lifetime's
toil chastening words to lyric flow.
Dropped kettle, the fire extinguished
beside Llyn Tegid's fertile shore,
catastrophe for progeny
of Tegid Foel, Ceridwen's mate.
Dashed hopes and hastening feet proclaim
disturbance of the natural realm;
hare, fish, bird, grain of corn pursued
by greyhound, otter, hawk and hen.*
What cosmic madness here at play?
Freakish mutation churns the air,
Ceridwen agitatedly
transformed again from hen to dame,
brings forth a child so fair of face
that all intent to seek revenge
for Gwion's theft of Morfran's draught
is stilled and soothed and lulled away.
How so? Not fickle mother-love
but hormone-drenched discovery
accompanying every unsought birth,
love's copious elasticity
surprising least welcomed, most
unplanned gestation. She wavers,
conflicted by first loyalty
to Morfran, tender for this child.
Dark despair, solicitude, self
doubt and shame or shrewd ambition
to cast this son upon the sea?
A second womb of coracle
lends leathery shelter to the boy
whose fearful voyage bears him south
to Aberdyfi's treacherous coast,
Elffin ap Gwyddno's sanctuary.
Strange birth! Muses' conspiracy
evading natural law to gift
Wales her Ben Beirdd Taliesin,
an accoucheuse with subtle powers
to weave a cloth of words that sing
a nation's tales down centuries,
whose shining brow* cascades wisdom
ancient, mysterious, luminous.
©Janet Henderson May 2016
* Ceridwen and Gwion (after tasting the potion) possessed the power of metamorophosis. To avoid Ceridwen's wrath (because he had tasted and therefore stolen Morfran's inheritance of wisdom), he changed successively into a hare, a fish, a bird and a grain of corn; she turned into a greyhound, an otter, and a hawk to pursue him and finally she became a hen and gobbled up the grain of corn. In her belly, it turned into a child and she became pregnant and gave birth to Taliesin.
** Taliesin means 'shining brow'.
This poem explores the birth of the Celtic poet Taliesin, a historical figure who lived, possibly, in the 6th century and whose poems capture struggles between rulers of the kingdoms that preceded present-day Wales, Scotland and north west England. He has also captured hearts and imaginations down the ages.
Ceridwen - Taliesin's mother variously portrayed as goddess of birth, transformation,
poetic inspiration and sorceress
Morfran - Ceridwen's ugly son to whom she wishes to give the gift of wisdom as
compensation for his looks
Awen - the name given, in mythology, to the cauldron containing the magic potion that
inspires poets and gives rise to wisdom
Shekinah - Hebrew word for the glory that accompanies the presence of God
Morda - the blind servant left in charge of Awen
Gwion Bach - the young servant who stirred Awen and licked his thumb clean of a few
drops of the magic potion (the first three drops contained the gift of wisdom
but the rest of the potion was a deadly poison)
Tegid Foel - Ceridwen's husband
Llyn Tegid - a lake in North Wales
Elffin ap Gywddno - son of Gwyddno Garanhir, rule of Cantref Gwaelod, a lost kingdom
now under the sea (Cardigan Bay around Aberdyfi). Later a prince in
his own right and patron of Taliesin
Ben Beirdd Taliesin - a Welsh title for Taliesin meaning 'Chief of Bards'
mother's love yearns to compensate
bestowing a poet's spirit
on Morfran. As Gwion Bach tends
inspiration's bubbling cauldron
it seems maternal care cannot
so readily be exercised
by proxy. A fatal error.
 |
| Ceridwen by Christopher Williams 1910 |
Awen's shining face of wisdom,
shekinah in a Celtic guise,
blinds Morda and causes Gwion's
young hand to tremble, a bard's fear
stirring, baleful, within his gut
as he licks the golden liquid
clean - potion that seeds a lifetime's
toil chastening words to lyric flow.
Dropped kettle, the fire extinguished
beside Llyn Tegid's fertile shore,
catastrophe for progeny
of Tegid Foel, Ceridwen's mate.
Dashed hopes and hastening feet proclaim
disturbance of the natural realm;
hare, fish, bird, grain of corn pursued
by greyhound, otter, hawk and hen.*
What cosmic madness here at play?
Freakish mutation churns the air,
Ceridwen agitatedly
transformed again from hen to dame,
brings forth a child so fair of face
that all intent to seek revenge
for Gwion's theft of Morfran's draught
is stilled and soothed and lulled away.
How so? Not fickle mother-love
but hormone-drenched discovery
accompanying every unsought birth,
love's copious elasticity
surprising least welcomed, most
unplanned gestation. She wavers,
conflicted by first loyalty
to Morfran, tender for this child.
Dark despair, solicitude, self
doubt and shame or shrewd ambition
to cast this son upon the sea?
A second womb of coracle
lends leathery shelter to the boy
whose fearful voyage bears him south
to Aberdyfi's treacherous coast,
Elffin ap Gwyddno's sanctuary.
Strange birth! Muses' conspiracy
evading natural law to gift
Wales her Ben Beirdd Taliesin,
an accoucheuse with subtle powers
to weave a cloth of words that sing
a nation's tales down centuries,
whose shining brow* cascades wisdom
ancient, mysterious, luminous.
©Janet Henderson May 2016
* Ceridwen and Gwion (after tasting the potion) possessed the power of metamorophosis. To avoid Ceridwen's wrath (because he had tasted and therefore stolen Morfran's inheritance of wisdom), he changed successively into a hare, a fish, a bird and a grain of corn; she turned into a greyhound, an otter, and a hawk to pursue him and finally she became a hen and gobbled up the grain of corn. In her belly, it turned into a child and she became pregnant and gave birth to Taliesin.
** Taliesin means 'shining brow'.
This poem explores the birth of the Celtic poet Taliesin, a historical figure who lived, possibly, in the 6th century and whose poems capture struggles between rulers of the kingdoms that preceded present-day Wales, Scotland and north west England. He has also captured hearts and imaginations down the ages.
Ceridwen - Taliesin's mother variously portrayed as goddess of birth, transformation,
poetic inspiration and sorceress
Morfran - Ceridwen's ugly son to whom she wishes to give the gift of wisdom as
compensation for his looks
Awen - the name given, in mythology, to the cauldron containing the magic potion that
inspires poets and gives rise to wisdom
Shekinah - Hebrew word for the glory that accompanies the presence of God
Morda - the blind servant left in charge of Awen
Gwion Bach - the young servant who stirred Awen and licked his thumb clean of a few
drops of the magic potion (the first three drops contained the gift of wisdom
but the rest of the potion was a deadly poison)
Tegid Foel - Ceridwen's husband
Llyn Tegid - a lake in North Wales
Elffin ap Gywddno - son of Gwyddno Garanhir, rule of Cantref Gwaelod, a lost kingdom
now under the sea (Cardigan Bay around Aberdyfi). Later a prince in
his own right and patron of Taliesin
Ben Beirdd Taliesin - a Welsh title for Taliesin meaning 'Chief of Bards'
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