Welsh Poets
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Welsh poetry refers to
poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
of the Welsh people or nation. This includes poetry written in Welsh, poetry written in English by Welsh or Wales-based poets, poetry written in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
in other languages or poetry by Welsh poets around the world.


History

Wales has one of the earliest literary traditions in
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
, stretching back to the days of
Aneirin Aneirin (), also rendered as Aneurin or Neirin and Aneurin Gwawdrydd, was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet who lived during the 6th century. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd ...
(
fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
550) and
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
(second half of the 6th century), and the haunting ''Stafell Cynddylan'', which is the oldest recorded literary work by a woman in northern Europe. The 9th-century ''
Canu Llywarch Hen ''Canu Llywarch Hen'' (modern Welsh /'kani 'ɬəwarχ heːn/, the songs of Llywarch Hen) are a collection of early Welsh ''englyn''-poems. They comprise the most famous of the early Welsh cycles of ''englynion'' about heroes of post-Roman Nort ...
'' and ''
Canu Heledd ''Canu Heledd'' (modern Welsh /'kani 'hɛlɛð/, the songs of Heledd) are a collection of early Welsh ''englyn''-poems. They are rare among medieval Welsh poems for being set in the mouth of a female character. One prominent figure in the poems ...
'' are both associated with the earlier prince
Llywarch Hen Llywarch Hen (, "Llywarch the Old"; c. 534 – c. 608), was a prince and poet of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern southern Scotland and northern England). Along with Taliesin, A ...
. Welsh poetry is connected directly to the bardic tradition, and is historically divided into four periods. The first period, before 1100, is known as the period of ''Y Cynfeirdd'' ("The earliest poets") or ''Yr Hengerdd'' ("The old poetry"). It roughly dates from the emergence of the Welsh language from
Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...
in the sixth century to the arrival of the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
in Wales towards 1100. The second period, the period of the "Poets of the Princes" (''Beirdd y Tywysogion'', also called ''Y Gogynfeirdd''), lasted from about 1100 until 1350, or until 1282, the date of the overthrow of Llywelyn. The final classical period of Welsh poetry, referred to as the period of the Poets of the Nobility (''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'') or simply ''Cywyddwyr'', lasted from 1350 to 1600. These included
Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and among the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd’s poetry also offers a unique window into the transcultural movement of cultural pract ...
and
Iolo Goch Iolo Goch (c. 1320 – c. 1398) (meaning ''Iolo the Red'' in English) was a medieval Welsh bard who composed poems addressed to Owain Glyndŵr, among others. Lineage Iolo was the son of Ithel Goch ap Cynwrig ap Iorwerth Ddu ap Cynwrig Dd ...
, and they produced many ''cywyddau''. There was a lull in the production of poetry after the union with England in the 16th century. The year 1600 is generally taken to mark the beginning of modern Welsh poetry. Throughout this time, serving as a bard was one of the few ways that one might better oneself socially, by becoming either a chief poet or a household poet. Both of these categories of bards could achieve status through a grading system, with the lowest being a minstrel (who was technically an ungraded bard), the lowest graded status of a disciple, a graduated disciple of poetry, a disciplined disciple, a disciple of chief-poet-craft, and finally a chief poet. The earliest poem in English by a Welsh poet dates from about 1470. More recently, Anglo-Welsh poetry has become an important aspect of Welsh literary culture, as well as influencing
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
. The works of the great hymn writers of the 18th and 19th centuries are also poetic: in particular
William Williams Pantycelyn William Williams, Pantycelyn (c. 11 February 1717 – 11 January 1791), also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn or simply Pantycelyn, was generally seen as Wales's premier hymnwriter, hymnist. He is also rated among the great litera ...
and
Ann Griffiths Ann Griffiths (née Thomas, 1776–1805) was a Welsh poet and writer of Methodist Christian hymns in the Welsh language. Her poetry reflects her fervent Christian faith and thorough scriptural knowledge. Biography Ann was born in April 1776 ...
. Around 1900, there was a renaissance with poets such as T. Gwynn Jones. Other notable writers were
T. H. Parry-Williams Sir Thomas Herbert Parry-Williams (21 September 1887 – 3 March 1975) was a Welsh poet, author and academic. Parry-Williams was born at Tŷ'r Ysgol ('the Schoolhouse') in Rhyd Ddu, Caernarfonshire, Wales. He was educated at the University C ...
and
D. Gwenallt Jones David James Jones (18 May 1899 – 24 December 1968), commonly known by his bardic name Gwenallt, was a Welsh poet, critic, and scholar, and one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature. He created his bardic na ...
; and around 1950 others such as
Waldo Williams Waldo Goronwy Williams (30 September 1904 – 20 May 1971) was one of the leading Welsh-language poets of the 20th century. He was also a notable Christian pacifist, anti-war campaigner, and Welsh nationalist. He is often referred to by his fir ...
. Many poets in the late 20th century produced work of a high standard, many of them in
cynghanedd In Welsh-language poetry, ''cynghanedd'' (, literally "harmony") is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using Stress (linguistics), stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of ''cynghanedd'' show up in the definitions ...
. Welsh poets often write under
bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...
s to conceal their identity in
Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...
competitions.


See also

* List of Welsh-language poets (6th century to c. 1600) *
British poetry British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
*
British literature British literature is from the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) literature ...
*
Welsh-language literature Welsh-language literature () has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in around the 5th century AD. The earliest Welsh literature was poetry, which was extremely intricate in form from ...
*
List of Welsh-language authors This is a list of Welsh-language authors. A * Richard Ithamar Aaron (1901–1987) * William Ambrose (Emrys) (1813–1873) * Gwynn ap Gwilym (1950–2016) * Charles Ashton (1848–1898) B * William Ambrose Bebb (1894–1953) * Tom Beynon ( ...
*
Welsh literature in English Welsh writing in English, (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. The term 'Anglo-Welsh' replaced an earlier attempt to define this category of writing as 'Anglo- ...


References


Further reading


Articles

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Chapters

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Books

* * *Conran, Tony (1986) (Translator) * * * * See
The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse ''The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse'' (1962), edited by Thomas Parry, is an anthology of Welsh-language poetry stretching from Aneirin in the 6th century to Bobi Jones in the 20th. No translations of the poems are provided, but the introduction ...
.
* * *


External links


Welsh WritersThe Poetry of Wales
by John Jenkins, 1873, from
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

The Welsh Poetry Competition
launched 2007, biggest in Wales
Poetry Book Awards
Welsh based international contest {{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh Poetry Welsh poets
Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
Poetry by country History of literature in the United Kingdom cy:Barddoniaeth