Loss Of Life (part 2)

Taliesin, I sing perfect metre

Which will last to the end of the world

I know why there is an echo in a hollow

Why silver gleams, why breath is black, why liver is bloody

Why a cow has horns, why a woman is affectionate

Why milk is white, why holly is green

Why a kid is bearded, why the cow parsnip is hollow

Why brine is salt, why ale is bitter

Why the linnet is green and berries red

Why a cuckoo complains, why it sings

I know where the cuckoos of summer are in winter

I know what beasts there are at the bottom of the sea

How many spears in battle, how many drops in the shower

Why a river drowned Pharaoh's people

Why fishes have scales, why a white swan has black feet

I have been a blue salmon

I have been a dog, a stag, a roebuck on the mountain

A stock, a spade, an axe in the hand

A stallion, a bull, a buck

I was reaped and placed in an oven

I fell to the ground when I was being roasted

And a hen swallowed me

For nine nights was I in her crop

I have been dead, I have been alive

I am Taliesin