 | The Works of Thomas Love Peacock |  |
80
THE INDIGNATION OF TALIESIN WITH THE BARDS OF MAELGON GWYNETH.
False bards the sacred fire pervert,
Whose songs are won without desert;
Who falsehoods weave in specious lays,
To gild the base with virtue's praise.
Whose songs are won without desert;
Who falsehoods weave in specious lays,
To gild the base with virtue's praise.
From court to court, from tower to tower,
In warrior's tent, in lady's bower,
For gold, for wine, for food, for fire,
They tune their throats at all men's hire.
In warrior's tent, in lady's bower,
For gold, for wine, for food, for fire,
They tune their throats at all men's hire.
Their harps reecho wide and far
With sensual love, and bloody war,
And drunkenness, and flattering lies:
Truth's light may shine for other eyes.
With sensual love, and bloody war,
And drunkenness, and flattering lies:
Truth's light may shine for other eyes.
In palaces they still are found,
At feasts, promoting senseless sound:
He is their demigod at least,
Whose only virtue is his feast.
At feasts, promoting senseless sound:
He is their demigod at least,
Whose only virtue is his feast.
81
They love to talk; they hate to think;
All day they sing; all night they drink:
No useful toils their hands employ;
In boisterous throngs is all their joy.
All day they sing; all night they drink:
No useful toils their hands employ;
In boisterous throngs is all their joy.
The bird will fly, the fish will swim,
The bee the honied flowers will skim;
Its food by toil each creature brings,
Except false bards and worthless kings.
The bee the honied flowers will skim;
Its food by toil each creature brings,
Except false bards and worthless kings.
Learning and wisdom claim to find
Homage and succour from mankind;
But learning's right, and wisdom's due,
Are falsely claimed by slaves like you.
Homage and succour from mankind;
But learning's right, and wisdom's due,
Are falsely claimed by slaves like you.
True bards know truth, and truth will show;
Ye know it not, nor care to know:
Your king's weak mind false judgment warps;
Rebuke his wrong, or break your harps.
Ye know it not, nor care to know:
Your king's weak mind false judgment warps;
Rebuke his wrong, or break your harps.
I know the mountain and the plain;
I know where right and justice reign;
I from the tower will Elphin free;
Your king shall learn his doom from me.
I know where right and justice reign;
I from the tower will Elphin free;
Your king shall learn his doom from me.
A spectre of the marsh shall rise,
With yellow teeth, and hair, and eyes,
From whom your king in vain aloof
Shall crouch beneath the sacred roof.
With yellow teeth, and hair, and eyes,
From whom your king in vain aloof
Shall crouch beneath the sacred roof.
He through the half-closed door shall spy
The Yellow Spectre sweeping by;
To whom the punishment belongs
Of Maelgon's crimes and Elphin's wrongs.
The Yellow Spectre sweeping by;
To whom the punishment belongs
Of Maelgon's crimes and Elphin's wrongs.
| The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | |