at may ever betide thee, fret
If at Hell thou art not arrived yet;
But thither, I rede thee, in mind repair
Full oft, and observantly wander there;
Musing intense, after reading me,
Of the flaming sea,
Will speedily thee
Convert by appalling.
Frequent remembrance of the black deep
Thy soul will keep,
Thou erring sheep,
From thither falling.

Footnotes:

{3} Probably Cheshire; the North Welsh commonly call Chester Caer.

{23} It is the custom of Mahometans, to lay aside their sandals, before
entering the Mosque.

{49} Taliesin lived in the sixth century; he was a foundling, discovered
in his infancy lying in a coracle, on a salmon-weir, in the domain of
Elphin, a prince of North Wales, who became his patron. During his life
he arrogated to himself a supernatural descent and understanding, and for
at least a thousand years after his death he was regarded by the
descendants of the Ancient Britons, as a prophet or something more. The
poems which he produced procured for him the title of "Bardic King;" they
display much that is vigorous and original, but are disfigured by
mysticism and extravagant metaphor. The four lines which he is made to
quote above are from his Hanes, or History, one of the most spirited of
his pieces. When Elis Wynn represents him as sitting by a cauldron in
Hades, he alludes to a wild legend concerning him, to the effect, that he
imbibed awen or poetical genius whilst employed in watching "the seething
pot" of the sorceress Cridwen, which legend has much in common with one
of the Irish legends about Fin Macoul, which is itself nearly identical
with one in the Edda, describing the manner in which Sigurd Fafnisbane
became possessed of supernatural wisdom.

{50} A dreadful pestilence, which ravaged Gwynedd or North Wales in 560.
Amongst its victims was the king of the country, the celebrated Maelgwn,
son of Caswallon Law Hir.

{84} Llyn Tegid, or the lake of Beauty, in the neighbourhood of Bala.

{93} The reader is left to guess what description of people these
prisoners were. They were probably violent fifth monarchy preachers.

{100} An active London Magistrate, treacherously murdered by a gang of
papist conspirators in the reign of Charles the Second.

{108} A celebrated Welsh poet, who flourished in the thirteenth century.
A short account of him will be found in Owen's Cambrian Biography.

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