The Materials of Man

The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I., ed. by J. Williams Ab Ithel, [1862], at sacred-texts.com

THE MATERIALS OF MAN.

Composed by Taliesin. From the Book of Llanrwst.

There are eight parts in man: the first is the earth, which is inert and heavy, and from it proceeds the flesh; the second are the stones, which are hard, and are the substance of the bones; the third is the water, which is moist and cold, and is the substance of the blood; the fourth is the salt, which is briny and sharp, and from it are the nerves, and the temperament of feeling, as regards bodily sense and faculty; the fifth is the firmament, or wind, out of which proceeds the breathing; the sixth is the sun, which is clear and fair, and from it proceed the fire, or bodily heat, the light and colour; the seventh is the Holy Ghost, from Whom issue the soul and life; and the eighth is Christ, that is, the intellect, wisdom, and the light of soul and life. ²

p. 388 p. 389

If the preponderating part of man is from the earth, he will be foolish, sluggish, and very heavy; also a short, little, and slender dwarf, in a great or small degree, according to the preponderance. If it should be from the firmament, he will be light, unsteady, garrulous, and fond of gossip. If from the stones, his heart, understanding, and judgment, will be hard, and he will be a miser, and a thief. If from the sun, he will be genial, affectionate, active, docile, and poetic. If from the Holy Ghost, then he will be godly, amiable, and merciful, with a just and gentle judgment, and abounding in arts. And being thus, he cannot but equiponderate with Christ, and divine sonship. And so it ends.

Footnotes

387:2 p. 387 It is, probably, on this account that the Bards described man as a "little world." They were not, however, singular in their views on this point, for some ancient and medieval Christian writers have spoken of man in the same strain. Thus St. Augustine: " God therefore placed on the earth the man whom He made, as it were another world, the great and large world in the p. 388 small and little world." (Aug. 1. qu. 83, 84, 87; Retr. l. i. c. 2.) Gregory Nazianzene remarks;--"Every creature, both heaven and earth, are in man." (Greg. Naz. Epist.) And Zanchius:--"The body of man is the image of the world, and called therefore microcosmos." (Zanch. de oper. Del, l. iii. c. 1.)