THE POEMS OF
DAFYDD
AP GWILYM
OTHER BOOKS BY JOSEPH P. CLANCY
Poetry
The Significance of Flesh
Here & There
Ordinary Time
Passing Through
Translations
The Odes and Epodes of Horace
Medieval Welsh Lyrics
The Earliest Welsh Poems
Twentieth Century Welsh Poems
Living a Life: Selected Poems by Gwyn Thomas
The Plays of Saunders Lewis (4 vols.)
Bobi Jones: Selected Poems
The World of Kate Roberts
Saunders Lewis: Selected Poems
Where There’s Love: Welsh Folk Poems of Love and Marriage
The Light in the Gloom: Poems and Prose by Alun Llywelyn-Williams
Medieval Welsh Poems
Bobi Jones: Right As Rain (e-book)
Non-Fiction
Pendragon: Arthur and His Britain
Other Words: Essays on Poetry and Translation
Short Stories (as P. G. Thomas)
The Retired Life
Novel (with Gertrude Clancy)
Death is a Pilgrim: A Canterbury Tale
See www.ProfJosephPClancy.com for further details.
THE POEMS OF
DAFYDD
AP GWILYM
Copyright © Joseph P. Clancy 2016
The right of Joseph P. Clancy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Published under licence by Brown Dog Books and
The Self-Publishing Partnership, 7 Green Park Station, Bath BA1 1JB
www.selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk
ISBN printed book: 978-1-78545-089-1
ISBN e-book: 978-1-78545-090-7
Cover design by Kevin Rylands
Internal design by Andrew Easton
Cover photograph by Joshua Fincher
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Pronunciation of Welsh
CELEBRATIONS, FRUSTRATIONS
A Celebration of Summer
The Seagull
The Girls of Llanbadarn
A Broken Promise
A Girl, A Bird, A Birch Tree
A Preacher’s Reproach
Gilding the Lily
Reassurance
Outside/Inside
The Peat Pit
In Winter, A Woodcock
Aubade
The Goose Shed
In Praise of His Uncle
Anima Christi
The Owl
GWYNEDD
One Night at an Inn
Newborough
A Gift of Wine
Pre-eminence
The Spear
Retaliation
The Mirror
The Black Friar’s Warning
In Praise of Hywel, Dean of Bangor
The Goodness of Providence
Pilgrimage
The Fowler
Denial
Perjury
Appeal
Reproach to His Penis
HEADING SOUTH
In Praise of Ieuan Llwyd
Madog’s Chaplet
A Garland of Peacock Feathers
Lament for Madog Benfras
A Bad Bard
Feeble Courtship
May
A Kiss
The Rattle Bag
Wild Creatures
Haggling
Razzle
Girlnapping
Lament for Gruffudd ab Adda
The Lady of Is Aeron
The Rood at Carmarthen
Lament for Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd
MORFUDD
Affliction
The Sigh
Foster Son
The Dream
The Star
Under the Eaves
The Fool
Complaint
Farewell
Fancying a Nun
Twilight
The Grey Friar’s Advice
Recompense
Cowardice
Devotion
Today
Morfudd’s Embrace
The Vow
Goldsmith
Nuts in My Hand
The Fox
The Briar
A House of Leaves
The Woodland Mass
Love in Secret
A Matter of Months
Ice
The Holly Grove
The Wave on the River Dyfi
Tonsure
Reconciliation
The Woodcock’s Warning
Marriage
Rejection
Infidelity
The World’s Brittleness
Husbandry
EXILE AND IFOR
In Praise of Ifor ap Llywelyn
Incomparable Ifor
Summer
A Prayer to Dwynwen
The Skylark
Hidden Love
A Simile for Morfudd
Suspicion
Three Porters
The Birch Hat
Morfudd’s Hair
A Moonlit Night
The Wind
Ifor Hael
Basaleg
A Gift of Gloves
Farewell to Ifor
DYDDGU
Dyddgu
Dyddgu and Morfudd
Love’s Tears
Longing’s Lineage
An Invitation to Dyddgu
The Roebuck
Wooing Dyddgu
The Tune
A BARDIC QUARREL
A Bardic Quarrel
1. Gruffudd Gryg: Dafydd’s Wounds
2. Dafydd ap Gwilym:
Gruffudd’s Plagiarism
3. Gruffudd’s Reply
4. Dafydd’s Response
5. Gruffudd’s Retort
6. Dafydd’s Rejoinder
7. Gruffudd’s Last Word
8. Dafydd’s Last Word
Lament for Gruffudd Gryg
LOVE’S OBSTACLES
Four Loves
Paragon
Spellbound
Coursing a Hare
The Mist
Waiting in Vain
Forgetfulness
The Window
Winter Wooing
The Song Thrush
The Thrush’s Verdict
The Clock
Lament for His Uncle
A Fortress against Envy
Christ and His Apostles
Lament for Angharad
MORFUDD AND AGE
The Haycock
The Heart
Intoxication
A Wish for Eiddig
Seeking and Guarding
The Sword
Repentance
The Rival
Yesterday
Beauty Marred
Lament for Ifor and Nest
Shadow
The Magpie
Morfudd Grown Old
Love’s Journeying
The Ruin
The End of Love
Notes
Glossary