From the Red Book of Hergest
Robbins Library Digital Projects Announcement: We are currently working on a large-scale migration of the Robbins Library Digital Projects to a new platform. This migration affects The Camelot Project, The Robin Hood Project, The Crusades Project, The Cinderella Bibliography, and Visualizing Chaucer.
While these resources will remain accessible during the course of migration, they will be static, with reduced functionality. They will not be updated during this time. We anticipate the migration project to be complete by Summer 2025.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly at robbins@ur.rochester.edu. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
While these resources will remain accessible during the course of migration, they will be static, with reduced functionality. They will not be updated during this time. We anticipate the migration project to be complete by Summer 2025.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly at robbins@ur.rochester.edu. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
The Lament for Urien
I.
A head I bear;—the Eagle of Gál,
Whose wing once brushed the mountain wall;
The Pillar of Prydain has come by a fall.
A head I bear by the side of my thigh:
He was the shield of his own country:
A wheel in battle; a sword borne high.
The Pillar of Prydain is fallen down:
Urien, Prince of our houses, is gone:
His heart was a castle, a walléd town.
A head I bear and hold in my hand,
That late was the Prince of Prydain's land,
That harried the host, as the sea the strand.
A head I bear, from the Riw to the wood:
His lips are closed on a foam of blood;
Woe to Reged! Let Urien be rued!
II.
The delicate white body will be buried to-day:
The delicate white body, be hidden away
Deep in the earth, and the stones, and the clay.
The delicate white body will be covered to-night,
Under earth and blue stones, from the eye of light:
The nettles shall cover it out of sight.
The delicate white body will be covered to-day,
The tumulus be reared, the green sod give way:
And there, oh Cynvarch, thy son they will lay.
The delicate white body will be covered to-night:
Oh Eurdyl, be sad: no more thy delight,
Thy brother shall rise from his sleep in might.
A head I bear;—the Eagle of Gál,
Whose wing once brushed the mountain wall;
The Pillar of Prydain has come by a fall.
A head I bear by the side of my thigh:
He was the shield of his own country:
A wheel in battle; a sword borne high.
The Pillar of Prydain is fallen down:
Urien, Prince of our houses, is gone:
His heart was a castle, a walléd town.
A head I bear and hold in my hand,
That late was the Prince of Prydain's land,
That harried the host, as the sea the strand.
A head I bear, from the Riw to the wood:
His lips are closed on a foam of blood;
Woe to Reged! Let Urien be rued!
II.
The delicate white body will be buried to-day:
The delicate white body, be hidden away
Deep in the earth, and the stones, and the clay.
The delicate white body will be covered to-night,
Under earth and blue stones, from the eye of light:
The nettles shall cover it out of sight.
The delicate white body will be covered to-day,
The tumulus be reared, the green sod give way:
And there, oh Cynvarch, thy son they will lay.
The delicate white body will be covered to-night:
Oh Eurdyl, be sad: no more thy delight,
Thy brother shall rise from his sleep in might.
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