Elegy For Llywelyn ap Gruffudd

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Bear with me on this one, because even if you're not a Welsh speaker, and I can't claim to be one either; a poem is a poem, and Welsh poetry is particularly fine, with a history stretching far, far back in time. The beauty is in the structure, rhyme and alliteration as much as in the inherent meaning of the story told. Moreover, a modern Welsh speaker, as I've said before, can still pretty much read Medieval Welsh: try that in English...

This poem is from the thirteenth century, and is by Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Goch.


Marwnad Llywelyn ap Gruffudd


Oerfalawg calon dan fron o fraw,

Rhewydd fal crinwydd y sy'n crinaw.

Poni welwch chwi hynt y gwynt a'r glaw?

Poni welwch chwi'r deri yn ymdaraw?

Poni welwch chwi'r môr yn meirwinaw'r tir

Poni welwch chwi'r gwir yn ymgweiriaw?

Poni welwch chwi'r haulyn hwylaw'r awyr?

Poni welwch chwi'r sŷr wedi'r syrthiaw?

Pani chredwch chwi i Dduw, ddyniadon ynfyd?

Pani welwch chwi'r byd wedi'r bydiaw?

Och hyd atat Ti, Dduw, na ddaw môr dros dir?

Pa beth y'n gedir i ohiriaw?

Nid oes le y cyrcher rhag carcher braw,

Nid oes le y trigier: och o'r trigiaw! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Anonymous14 December 2023 at 09:28

    Without the knowledge of how to read/pronounce it I can't see the point mate. How you missed a genuine turning point in Welsh politics and a genuinely nice man, I know cos I bothered to meet him before he became leader of Llafur and who's recently lost his wife; almost certainly why he's given up! I'll have to ask him!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sideways14 December 2023 at 11:50

      I didn't miss it, and I think the reasons for his stepping down are more complex than that, reason enough though that is. I didn't want to put the translation in, because the inner structure, beats and rhythms of the poem are plain to see...

      Delete

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