Over the last couple weeks, I have shared some poems I wrote based on a medieval text about The Life of Merlin. If you haven’t read those articles yet, you may want to start there instead, as the poems in this article pick up in the middle of the story. You can find the first one HERE and the second one HERE.
Though Merlin forgot about his friends and family after he was driven into the wilderness by a frenzy of the mind, his friends and family did not forget about him. Throughout the story, they keep trying to reintegrate Merlin the community, but it never works out the way they hoped. The transformed Merlin is no longer able to participate in civilized society, with all its corruption and vanity.
A Chance Encounter
As Merlin sang his mournful songs
in wretched holy fear,
the spirit of that blessed sound
fell soft upon the ears
of a traveller passing by,
who listened and drew near.
When Merlin saw the man approach
from in his hazelbush,
he jumped and quickly sped away,
just like a startled thrush.
The man pursued him, running quick
across the forest floor,
but could not catch him. So he quit
and took the road once more.
To follow Merlin through the woods
would surely be unwise.
He chose to walk the beaten path
that’s safe and civilized.
But Merlin took the wild road
back to his holy grove,
far from the prying eyes of men
so he could be alone.
Atop a mountain far away
a ring of hazel grows
around an ancient holy well
where genius overflows.
From high above, Merlin perceived
the spirit of the land,
allowing him to comprehend
the forest’s wise commands.
Though Merlin fled, his song remained
lodged in the traveller’s mind.
Haunted by the wild prophet
whom he had left behind.
The Search for Merlin
Ganieda, Merlin’s sister,
now married to the chief,
lamented for her brother’s fate,
with tears of panicked grief.
Rodarcus, king of Cumbria,
sent servants out to track
Merlin through the fields and glens
to bring her brother back.
The traveller who met the bard
on his way back to town,
told one such servant all he knew
about the man he found.
The servant who received the news
of Merlin’s wild abode,
searched for him in dark valleys and
the mountains where he roamed.
‘Till finally, upon the breeze,
heard Merlin’s sacred song
and crept up to him secretly
without making a sound.
In tall, wet grass the prophet sat
upon the forest floor.
Poured all his prayers into the well
just like he’d done before.
That’s all the Merlin poems I have written so far, though there is still plenty of Geoffrey’s text left to work with. Merlin eventually meets and befriends Taliesin, perhaps the most revered poet in Wales. I want to integrate the story of Taliesin’s mythical rebirth as a master bard from the Mabinogion, with all its beautiful strangeness. That way I can incorporate a number of key historical texts into the book, just like Geoffrey himself did when writing the Vita Merlini.
Merlin’s ring of hazel bushes surrounding a holy well of insight is a common motif in Celtic myth. Taliesin in the Welsh tradition and Fionn mac Cumhail in the Irish tradition both gain their wisdom in a similar setting. If I am able to continue this project, it will become a tool for the formation of sacred poets, synthesizing different elements of the Welsh bardic tradition. Then I can publish it as a small booklet similar to Blessed and Fall and The Prayer of Saint Brendan, which recently became available in print.
If anyone feels called to support my continued work on this project, I will gladly mention you by name in the acknowledgements of the book once it is available in print, and give you a signed copy along with my everlasting gratitude. Those who choose to support the project will also have the opportunity to be part of my creative process, helping me discern how the book want to be written.
If you would like to contribute to my ongoing work on this project, click HERE for our donation page.