Hedd Wyn Cofio

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-# Remember

-# Remember #

-This programme

-comes from Trawsfynydd...

-..in memory of the Poet

-of the Black Chair, Hedd Wyn.

-We're going back to 1967 when

-this power station was first built.

-We'll hear Ellis Humphrey Evans's

-friends...

-..reminiscing about their friendship

-with the young poet.

-TRUMPET FANFARE

-Would Fleur-de-lis...

-..please stand up!

-BATTLEFIRE

-"No. No.

-"His soul hears only the voice

-"That awakens

-the children of the muse at dawn

-# The poet

-# Heavy beneath foreign soil

-# The hands

-that will no longer be parted

-# The intense eyes

-# Booring into the grave

-# The eyes that cannot open #

-REPETITIVE GUNFIRE

-"Woe is me

-that I live in an age so boorish

-"And God at ebb on a distant horizon

-"After him, man, lord and commoner

-"Raising his ugly authority"

-Ellis Humphrey Evans, Hedd Wyn.

-He was born at Yr Ysgwrn,

-Trawsfynydd.

-And died

-at the battle of Pilckem Ridge...

-..on the border

-between France and Belgium...

-..on 31 July, 1917.

-He was 29 years old.

-Ellis was the eldest

-of nine children...

-..born to Evan and Mari Evans.

-The literary tradition was strong

-on both sides of the family...

-..though the children's education

-was, at best, basic.

-They stayed at home

-to work on the farm...

-..as was the tradition

-for sons and daughters of farmers.

-Though the mountains

-remain unchanged in Cwm Prysor...

-..man's productivity

-has altered the area's landscape.

-Since Hedd Wyn's death...

-..a new road has been built

-from Cwm Prysor to Tryweryn.

-A reservoir has been built

-in Llyn Stwlan and Trawsfynydd.

-More recently, it has become home

-to a power station.

-But if the power station

-is a symbol of what is to come...

-..Hedd Wyn

-continues to avert his eyes.

-He stares at his former home...

-..standing a stone's throw away

-from the power station...

-..but still without electricity.

-Very little has changed

-at Yr Ysgwrn.

-It's as it was on the day

-Hedd Wyn left to meet his fate.

-His family still lives here

-to this day.

-Two of his old friends,

-John and William Morris...

-..relive memories

-from half a century ago.

-It's very nice

-being back here at Yr Ysgwrn.

-It's been 50 years

-since we were last here.

-We regularly called before the war.

-I was a teacher at Ffestiniog

-at the time.

-When war broke out,

-we were separated.

-I came here many times

-before the war...

-..and spent hours in his company

-when he first began writing poetry.

-It's 60 years since he won his

-first Chair at the Bala Eisteddfod.

-Many years of diligence followed...

-..until that turbulent time...

-..which led to him winning

-the Black Chair in Birkenhead.

-I have a vivid memory of sitting

-here with him around the fireside.

-He took a scrap of paper

-from his waistcoat...

-..lit it in the fire...

-..and held it to his pipe.

-I noticed he'd written an englyn

-on the paper.

-I grabbed it, stubbed out the flame

-and looked at it.

-The englyn read...

-"I walked along the estuaries

-"In the shy hubbub

-of the nervous winds

-"As the white arm of sunlight

-"Caressed the neck

-of the old mountains"

-Yes, he captured it perfectly.

-From the window

-I can see the old railway...

-..that ran through Cwm Prysor.

-I recall verses he wrote

-about Jones the Guard.

-He wrote in English and Welsh.

-"A chatty amiable guard

-"Full of fun in his van working hard

-"Full of love, he never lacks

-"To serve his country

-on the tracks"

-Jones was a contented soul.

-"And the guard, most kind and gay

-"So I wish to sing his praise

-all the way

-"And I hope he'll be someday

-"The ruler of the railway"

-Very good.

-It was here, in the Migneint

-and Moelwyn mountains...

-..that Hedd Wyn honed his art.

-Much of his poetry was sad...

-..in memory of friends

-who had died...

-..as he too would die

-in the Great War.

-Ifan Price, Y Pandy.

-I remember Hedd Wyn well.

-We were childhood friends

-and spent a lot of time together.

-He was a poet and I wasn't. That's

-the only difference between us.

-We got on really well.

-I remember him winning his first

-Chair at the Bala Eisteddfod.

-Some of the lads went to carry it

-for him...

-..but he didn't like that at all.

-The chairs he won later...

-..he either carried them across

-the fields on his back or in a cart.

-"Oh, to be a flower

-"With the gentle breeze

-"Washing its white waves over me

-"From the golden slopes"

-"His sacrifice was not in vain

-"His face in our minds will remain

-"Although he left a bloodstain

-"On Germany's iron fist of pain"

-The Moelwyn

-"Cold and harsh the landscape

-"It has been forever

-"Covered in heather

-"As the flock roams the mountain

-"Its rocks are organs in the wind

-"I saw one amongst the sheep

-at the end of a summer's day

-"I saw such splendour

-on its young face

-"The breeze whistled as it blew

-between the heather and leaves

-"He sang unknowingly,

-his voice peerless

-"I stood by his grave late one day

-"The grave of pure hope

-"Born of the mountain

-children's joy

-"Who sang the melodic song

-"If I could,

-I would mark upon his silent grave

-"A picture of a harp

-with broken strings"

-To his sweetheart - Jennie.

-"A beauty with pure white skin

-"The most beautiful

-in the whole wide world

-"One so tender, kind-natured

-"Strangely sweet is Sian"

-Yes, I knew Hedd Wyn very well.

-We were courting for three years.

-I set eyes on him

-for the first time...

-..on the 7.30 train

-from Blaenau Ffestiniog.

-He came over for a chat

-on the train.

-On the Monday morning,

-I received a long letter from him.

-There was a Sunday collection

-back then.

-I don't remember much of what was

-in the letter, apart from this.

-"Do not be so mean, my dear

-"Do not reject my letter

-"I hope that, come the answer

-"I can look forward merrily

-to our meeting, Miss Owen

-"Pantllwyd's sweetest daughter"

-I lived in Pantllwyd back then.

-I was known as Jini Pantllwyd.

-"His mother's grave

-is in Trawsfynydd

-"The habitat

-of the wind and the rain

-"And he asleep on a pillow in the

-cemetery of the distant foreigner

-"He will not come

-with the golden summers

-"To visit the area of his home

-"For the cemetery

-is in a foreign land

-"And he is asleep in its gravel"

-# Remember #

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-"His sacrifice was not in vain

-"His face in our minds will remain

-"Although he left a bloodstain

-on Germany's iron fist of pain"

-This memorial statue

-was unveiled in 1923...

-..by Hedd Wyn's mother.

-His journey towards acclaim as

-a chief poet wasn't at all easy...

-..as his friends testify.

-There was something within him

-that spurred him on to do it.

-Yes. He received scathing criticism

-on occasions.

-I remember John Morris Jones

-in 1915...

-..when Sir Thomas Parry-Williams

-won the Chair...

-..for a poem about Snowdonia...

-..harshly criticizing

-Hedd Wyn's ode.

-He knew nothing about the struggle

-he had, trying to express himself.

-He was made aware later

-because I made sure I told him.

-He was concerned too.

-He came second in 1916.

-I remember writing it down for him.

-And I came across it in

-the sheep pen on a Sunday afternoon.

-That was divine intervention.

-It's called Yr Arwr.

-I remember getting this copy,

-among others, from the bookshelf.

-This is interesting.

-He wrote half of it

-before he departed.

-He went to war

-in early spring, 1917.

-We said our goodbyes

-and I went to Anglesey to live.

-He wasn't allowed to stay here,

-maybe he could have stayed.

-But off to war he went.

-Providence allowed him to return so

-that he could plough the fields...

-..because of the situation

-at the time.

-So he had a chance to finish

-the poem, and here it is.

-Birkenhead National Eisteddfod,

-1917.

-Competition 18.

-An ode entitled "The Hero",

-in no more than 500 words.

-The prize -

-10 and a carved oak chair.

-He'd come to see me twice a week.

-Every Wednesday night

-and Saturday night.

-He'd go to Blaenau Ffestiniog...

-..then he'd walk home

-along the road...

-..as far as the grassy slope

-at Ty'n Cefn.

-Other times

-he'd go down to Ceunant Sych.

-He was very devoted...

-..he never cancelled our date.

-But war broke out...

-..and ruined everything.

-"My Gwenfron and I

-went a-walking one day

-"And listened

-to the light breeze play

-"A sky-full of moon,

-a lake-full of moon

-"And the nightingale sang

-from the treetops its tune

-"And love was alive that night,

-and soon

-"Just there,

-as the breeze whispered in the tree

-"An eternal vow

-bound Gwenfron and me

-"Gwenfron and I are older, we know

-"It's late and time has turned

-our hair to snow

-"Our sight, like the end

-of an evening, is grey

-"No strength in our bodies,

-too tired to play

-"And yet,

-our love grows stronger each day

-"To those lands

-without ageing beyond the sea

-"The breeze is a-calling

-Gwenfron and me"

-But war broke out

-and ruined everything.

-SLOW DRUMMING / SHOUTING

-# Pack Up Your Troubles

-In Your Old Kit Bag #

-DISTANT GUNFIRE

-"I shall venture into the storm

-and walk on the slopes of the hill

-"Let the rain fall on my clothing

-and the wind sing as it will

-"I shall venture into the storm

-where no-one can hear my cry

-"Nothing can show me the way

-"But the lightning

-in God's great sky

-"I'll venture into the storm

-where the sheep and lambs graze

-"Let the thunder groan

-on the mountain

-"Like the ecstasy of pain

-"Wild winds blow over the mountains

-playing the harp strings of reed

-"Will you carry my plaintive message

-"To someone who might take heed?

-"When my eyes are shut in death

-let lightning strike every hill

-"Let the rain fall on the mountain

-"Let the wind sing as it will"

-# The poet,

-heavy beneath foreign soil

-# The hands

-that will no longer be parted

-# The intense eyes

-# Booring into the grave

-# The eyes that cannot open

-# You've lived your life

-# It's run its course

-# The hour came

-for you to go to your grave

-# Putting an end

-to your worldly travels #

-"Only a purple moon

-on the edge of the bare mountain

-"And the sound of the River Prysor

-singing in the valley"

-He came home on leave.

-He'd already started writing

-Yr Arwr...

-..at Yr Ysgwrn.

-But he was far from finishing it.

-His heart wasn't in it and he

-couldn't face going back to writing.

-He said to me,

-"I'm not going to do it."

-But I kept on at him constantly...

-..to finish it...

-..because he'd come second

-the previous year.

-But he was so downhearted.

-"I can't get my mind off

-what happened out there," he said.

-"I just can't"

-"Why don't you try?" I said.

-"It'd be a shame not to finish it

-after writing most of it."

-And he gave me a look...

-..and said...

-.."I'll do it for you, dear Jini...

-"..but I'm not sure

-it'll arrive in time."

-"He took his sword

-to kill his brother

-"When he felt that God was gone

-"We're deafened

-by the sound of battle

-"Its shadows darken humble homes

-"The harps that once

-were full of song

-"Are silent now with pain

-"The cries of boys

-carried on the breeze

-"Their blood runs mixed with rain"

-It was a tragedy that he had to go

-into the army at all.

-He wasn't the type at all.

-He was kind-hearted

-with a gentle nature.

-But he had to go.

-He was only in France for six weeks.

-He sent me poems on my birthday.

-I received them

-a week after he was killed.

-I have them in my basket here.

-I'll read them to you.

-"May you always be blessed,

-sweet Jini

-"In your home under the trees

-"Where the flowers bloom brightly

-"You're twenty-seven years old

-"If we find that during this year

-"Life deals us a cruel blow

-"I bid you a pleasant year,

-sweet Jini

-"When the next year comes around

-"And when the war is over

-"With all its suffering and pain

-"I will head for Ceunant Sych

-"To search for my sweet love

-"When I return from enemy land

-"Like a tired pilgrim from the heat

-"I hope you won't mind me asking

-"Could you come a little closer?"

-"To the Eisteddfod

-from the excitement of the world

-"To embrace the muse

-a nation came together

-"The horn was sounded,

-the sword prepared

-"But empty is the chair

-"With the poet in his grave"

-You were there, weren't you?

-You were there, weren't you?

-

-Yes, I was. I received a telegram.

-I was in Gretna at the time...

-..and Bryfdir asked me

-to go to Birkenhead.

-I heard there was a crowd of 18,000.

-I'm not sure there were that many...

-..but there were certainly thousands

-there.

-I went straight away and Bryfdir

-was there to meet me on the Maes.

-We went to see Dyfed, the Archdruid,

-and Evan Evans, Hedd Wyn's father.

-They had to decide if anyone

-should to sit in the chair...

-..or if it would be a black chair.

-Evan Evans was adamant

-he wasn't going to sit in the chair.

-He wanted me to sit in it

-but I couldn't.

-So it was to be a black chair.

-Dyfed decided shortly afterwards

-that it would be a black chair.

-He asked us both to go on stage and

-stand either side of the chair...

-..during the chairing ceremony.

-So that's what we did.

-"Hedd Wyn was his name,

-the son and heir

-"There is nothing left of him

-but his black chair"

-# Over Trawsfynydd's rocks

-# You travelled,

-on the bare hills of Snowdonia

-# You trod over its bracken

-# You fell asleep

-far from the area #

-"His heart is without bitterness

-"His appearance is without blemish

-"His poetry lives on

-though the poet lies in his grave

-"He herded his flock

-without arrogance or swagger

-"Like a hermit retreating

-in the heather

-"He crossed the straits,

-his hand on his sword

-"The flock waits on the mountains

-"While the poet lies in his grave"

-# Leaving work

-and leaving the plough

-# Leaving the pasture

-and the mountain stream

-# Leaving meadow and leaving day

-# And leaving green forests

-# The lonely Chair,

-his dwelling yonder

-# Its two arms,

-as if earnestly listening

-# Today reach silently

-# For one who rests

-in eternal peace #

-"We have no right to the stars

-"Nor the homesick moon

-"Nor the clouds edged with gold

-at the centre of the eternal blue

-"We have no right to anything

-but the old and withered earth

-"That is all in chaos

-"At the centre of God's glory"

-# The Last Post #

-"Gravely, we continue

-"The arrow wounds his people

-"From the bow

-of the avenger it came

-"The harp,

-shattered during the feast

-"The festival in tears

-"The poet in his grave"

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.