R.Williams Parry Gwlad Beirdd

-888

-888

-

-888

-888

-888

-888

-888

-Rising above us

-is Craig Cwm Dulyn.

-A hundred yards from its summit...

-..R Williams Parry

-saw the fox, "that rare wonder".

-Over there is Talysarn,

-where the story begins.

-It's the story

-of the Summer Poet, as he's known.

-It's also the story

-of the Poet of Fear and Doubt.

-How much do we know

-about R Williams Parry himself?

-Why do some sour critics

-accuse him of being too sugary?

-Why do so many of his fans

-disagree with them?

-He heard "the ocean's roar

-on the peninsula of great eternity".

-The ocean's roar

-on the peninsula of great eternity.

-On 6th March, 1884,

-in this house...

-..R Williams Parry was born.

-From an early age, he experienced

-success at both chapel and cymanfa.

-Up the street lived Owen Edwards.

-Anant was his bardic name.

-Young Bob visited him

-to learn all about cynghanedd.

-Before long, he competed

-at the National Eisteddfod.

-He had no luck in 1907 nor 1909...

-..but in 1910,

-he won with his ode to The Summer.

-He stood on this wall

-as the village acclaimed him...

-..when he returned

-from Colwyn Bay with the Chair.

-Its home was to be

-Rhiwafon, 37 Station Road, Talysarn.

-The summer always dies to live.

-It's worth hearing

-about the competition.

-He and two friends

-stood on this bridge.

-R Williams Parry said...

-..he wasn't going to send

-his ode to the Eisteddfod.

-He feared it was too new,

-too romantic for the adjudicators.

-His two friends pleaded with him

-to change his mind.

-A few days later, he agreed.

-He sent his ode to the Eisteddfod.

-After that, of course,

-there was the wait.

-At the time, the victorious bard

-wasn't told in advance of his win.

-A spy was needed.

-Owain Llewelyn Owain

-was a journalist from Talysarn.

-He sent a telegram

-from the Eisteddfod.

-Five past twelve, Wednesday.

-"Nothing definite,

-bright weather, wire later."

-In a while, another message.

-"Have found rooms for you."

-That was the code.

-R Williams Parry

-knew that he had won the Chair.

-From what I remember,

-he was an extremely amiable man.

-He was very gentle,

-and was, of course, easily hurt.

-He didn't like the night.

-He didn't care much for driving,

-believe it or not.

-As a driver,

-he wasn't especially committed.

-Such are the stories

-about him anyway.

-Nantlle Valley is best enjoyed

-on foot, not by car.

-This was the boyhood home

-of R Williams Parry.

-That ancient dale

-stimulates this, my song.

-One lake alone in Baladeulyn now.

-This valley abounds with tales

-from the Mabinogi.

-As the name Baladeulyn suggests,

-there were two lakes here once.

-Those same two lakes

-feature in the story of Blodeuwedd.

-On an oak branch by the lakes,

-Gwydion turned Lleu into an eagle.

-Lleu will return not

-to Nantlleu Valley.

-Here's the place itself,

-the valley of Nantlleu.

-It was named after that same Lleu,

-Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

-At the mouth of the River Llyfni...

-..you can see the submerged ruins

-of the old Caer Arianrhod.

-In my view, it's no surprise

-that a place so rich in history...

-..produced such a great poet.

-When Williams Parry

-started to write his poems...

-..he wrote in a style

-that was popular at that time.

-It was the romantic style.

-He continued in this vein

-until his ode to The Summer.

-Then, a change happened.

-In a sonnet home, he vows

-to turn his back on such themes.

-He would write

-about the things all around him.

-The quiet valley

-of the Mabinogi was no more.

-Some 200 years ago...

-..the quarries arrived.

-Villages such as Llanllyfni,

-Cesarea, Carmel and Talysarn grew.

-The population trebled

-from 4,000 to 12,000.

-Who fall down narrow ladders

-o'er frightful Dorothea quarry?

-Inevitably,

-industrial accidents occurred.

-An early englyn by Williams Parry

-was written in memory of a friend.

-David Williams

-was killed in the quarry.

-The loss of young men

-became a painful theme in his work.

-Dear Dafydd in your lonely grave,

-You grieve so many broken hearts.

-But the marshland will shed

-Its sadness and blossom again anew.

-Strangely enough, he only wrote

-two poems about his own valley.

-Y Ddol A Aeth O'r Golwg

-and Dyffryn Nantlle Ddoe A Heddiw.

-In both,

-he longs for the valley of old.

-It disappeared

-when "the old clay quarry spewed".

-Across our virgin meadow

-the old clay quarry spewed.

-He also discusses

-the area's two new civilizations...

-..the quarry and the chapel.

-His work suggests a difficulty

-in his total acceptance of either.

-Two new civilizations

-to our two parishes came.

-What came of the oak in the dale?

-The Wooded Way, near Cricieth

-Unsurprisingly, R Williams Parry

-had to escape from time to time.

-Visits here,

-to see his mother's cousin...

-..at Hendre Cennin farm,

-by the Wooded Way...

-..was his happy form of escapism.

-Far from the sight of Progress

-On the sad face of the Works

-There's a place

-between sea and mountain

-Without any stain or scar

-Except the furrow

-on the mountain field

-Where the plough

-tore spring from the soil.

-Far from the bitter rat race

-Of the spiteful modern world

-The taste of antiquity lingers

-Like precious vintage wine.

-Old, old is the murmuring

-Between two rivers in Rhoslan.

-There's perfection in this peace

-The peace of the Wooded Way

-From the arch of its latticed roof

-To the green grass underfoot

-It's not a road to church or town

-But that doesn't bother me.

-Oh! It's heaven to reach the heart

-Of this quiet neighbourhood

-From my industry-scarred valley

-And the ways of the world I know

-To walk its peace all by myself

-Or with a soulmate in sweet accord.

-R Williams Parry wanted his poetry

-to be understood by all.

-He wanted people to understand

-most of it at first reading.

-He would occasionally

-read a poem to some friends.

-If they didn't understand it...

-..he would make some changes.

-This was very important to him.

-His poetry is clear...

-..if you know what the words mean.

-Even so,

-there are deeper meanings.

-R Williams Parry

-felt very close to nature.

-He loved taking his holidays

-in the "great tranquillity".

-Nature instils fear in him,

-but is also a source of comfort.

-He knows that death awaits us all.

-But in the world of nature,

-he would see the best of everything.

-He saw the fox, "that rare wonder".

-Then again, he knew

-that such beauty was short-lived.

-"He came, he went, a shooting star."

-There's perfection in this peace

-The peace of the Wooded Way.

-.

-888

-888

-

-888

-As a boy in my bed in days of yore

-Restless summer nights had no breeze

-Three things I feared as I lay alone

-Lightning, earthquake

-and the end of the world.

-Since childhood, he had been one

-of a timid disposition.

-Faith in the eternal life

-of a heavenly father...

-..failed to offer him much solace.

-"Death does not die,

-More is the pity."

-Death does not die,

-More is the pity.

-But the Bible

-had been part of his upbringing.

-These agnostic periods

-confused him enormously.

-On the one hand, he claimed to be

-an unassuming member of the flock.

-On the other hand, he said this.

-"I wish to perform

-a worthy deed for Christ...

-"..that he may not look upon me

-so sadly."

-Then came the war

-to confuse him further.

-Winchester

-In a barracks, here in Winchester...

-..R Williams Parry

-trained to be a soldier.

-He described himself

-as a pitiful failure.

-But he left behind a notebook.

-This showed

-that he took the work seriously.

-Lloyd George visited the soldiers.

-He recognized the Summer Poet,

-so the story goes.

-Within a week, R Williams Parry

-was no longer on front line duty.

-A coincidence? Well, maybe.

-One not spared was Hedd Wyn.

-During a service at Jewry Street

-congregational church...

-..R Williams Parry composed

-the famous memorial englynion.

-He claims to have written

-all eight verses at one sitting.

-The 'Amen' at the sermon's end

-awoke him from his trance.

-The dead bard in a foreign field

-The two hands

-that will never again be separate

-The grave eyes under the grave door

-The eyes that cannot open more.

-Your life has been lived

-Your race has been run too.

-The hour has come to become dust

-Travelling the world has ended.

-Gentle is the moon tonight

-Rising over Trawsfynydd's bog.

-And you so sadly in your grave...

-# Gentle is the moon tonight

-# Rising over Trawsfynydd's bog

-# And you so sadly in your grave

-# By the black Trench resting

-# A lonely Chair stands yonder! #

-Its arms as though listening.

-Today, reaching so quietly

-In peace for the one that's gone.

-# Today, reaching so quietly

-# In peace for the one that's gone #

-Inevitably,

-the War left its mark on the poet.

-The Nationalist movement

-jolted him too.

-The Penyberth Bombing School

-arson affected him.

-The tone of his work changed,

-from summer to winter poems.

-But wasn't this dark side

-present from the very start?

-He wrote this as a young man.

-"Oh, grave, you frighten me today,

-I am frightened and tearful."

-Oh, grave, you frighten me today,

-I am frightened and tearful.

-He's a truly sensitive bard.

-In his sonnet Dinas Noddfa,

-he sees the stars.

-He hears "the sea's sad rhyming"

-and he feels the wind.

-After awakening the senses,

-he gives advice.

-"Follow the wise."

-Do something!

-It's earnest, but difficult.

-Follow the wise,

-and build yourself a fort.

-Dolbadarn Castle

-It was 50 years ago,

-and I was at the back.

-I was at an evening class.

-There was an evening class

-in every village years ago.

-Religion, politics

-and social matters were discussed.

-I'd sit at the back, listening.

-I heard these words.

-"When the stars

-send shivers through your blood

-"To shake your credo

-just like leaves."

-Now, that couplet.

-I thought... wow!

-Over the years,

-I've gone back to it.

-I've never recited it aloud.

-In this location today...

-..not far from my home...

-..to tell you the truth...

-..I could get quite emotional.

-I could.

-R Williams Parry's work

-affected Kate Roberts too.

-Her novel Tywyll Heno

-uses the sonnet Dinas Noddfa.

-Years later,

-I played Bet in Tywyll Heno.

-I was really delighted.

-It was an opportunity, a challenge.

-It was one of my biggest challenges.

-Bet's health is failing slowly.

-It's a mental illness,

-and a loss of faith.

-Losing her faith

-leads to her losing her identity.

-She and her husband,

-Gruff, go for a picnic.

-It's a fine day and they're happy.

-She asks Gruff to read Dinas Noddfa.

-He has a marvellous voice,

-and he reads it well.

-But she couldn't find

-her own city of refuge.

-While listening, she realized

-that only a black wall faced her.

-When the stars

-send shivers through your blood

-To shake your credo

-just like leaves.

-When the night tests the clay

-from which you're made

-Its fear

-searching your being to its core.

-Or when you listen

-to the sea's sad rhyming

-Reciting darkly its bewitching moan

-And the wind which comes and goes

-about your door

-Hoarse through the woods

-and husky through the reeds.

-Follow the wise,

-and build yourself a fort

-Where you'll find refuge

-from their tyranny.

-Lord of your nothingness,

-the architect of your own heaven

-Or will you follow him

-Who built a temple

-not made with human hand

-Above the mystery of nature

-and beyond?

-Above the mystery of nature

-and beyond.

-Williams Parry was a sick man

-in his final decade.

-He suffered from what, I suppose...

-..was a condition

-that we would call Alzheimer's.

-Very few were allowed to see him.

-Mrs Parry was extremely protective.

-This was particularly so

-in his latter years.

-This was probably

-one of the last photos taken of him.

-To me, his affectionate nature

-shines through.

-But perhaps you can also see...

-..a sign of the condition...

-..that ruined his life...

-..in this photograph.

-R Williams Parry had lived

-through a time of great change.

-Industry came and went,

-two world wars erupted.

-You're right,

-but his poetic legacy...

-..is the voice that he gave

-to our constant aspirations.

-He knew that we all inhabit

-"a medley of confusion."

-A medley of confusion.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

-.