The Song of the Stag
(The Song of Amergin)

Robert Cochrane, in a letter to Joseph Wilson (1965), identified himself as "an admirer and a critic of Robert Graves". The Song of Amergin is an ancient Celtic hymn which speaks of the origin of the Universe, the Nature of the Gods and the path to enlightenment. It is explored extensively in Graves' work, "The White Goddess". Cochrane said "The Song of Amergin" is a poetic commentary on a religious work. "The White Goddess" is required reading for most students of his Tradition, who will spend many hours attempting to interpret the following lines:

I am a Stag: of seven tines
I am a Flood: across a plain
I am a Wind: upon the waves
I am a Tear: the sun lets fall
I am a Hawk: above the cliff
I am a Thorn: beneath the nail
I am a Wonder: among flowers
I am a Wizard: who but I
sets the cool head aflame?

I am a Spear: that roars for blood
I am a Salmon: in a pool
I am a Lure: from Paradise
I am a Hill: where poets walk
I am a Boar: ruthless and red
I am a Breaker: threatening doom
I am a Tide: that drags to death
I am an Infant: who but I
peeps from the unhewn dolman arch?

I am the Womb: of every holt
I am the Blaze: on every hill
I am the Queen: of every hive
I am the Shield: for every head
I am the tomb: of every hope

(Notes by Doug and Sandy Kopf, Coven Ashesh Hekat)

For more about The Song of Amergin, visit The Sacred Wood.