Since then I have fled in the shape of a crow,
since then I have fled as a speedy frog,
since then I have fled with rage in my chains,
-a roe-buck in a dense thicket.

I have fled in the shape of a raven of prophetic speech,
in the shape of satirising fox,
in the shape of a sure swift,
in the shape of a squirrel vainly hiding.

I have fled in the shape of a red deer...

Taliesin's Song of his Origins
translated by Caitlin Matthews