Gwlad Beirdd: Dafydd ap Gwilym Gwlad Beirdd

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-"Woe to us, Adam's feeble progeny

-"(Upsurge of grace),

-how short is the summer.

-"Between me and God,

-it's true that most vexatious

-"(As it ends) is summer's coming.

-From the old earth cometh summer

-"And a gentle most cloudless sky

-"And a merry sun

-and its colour in summer

-"And a pleasant evening air

-"And the world joyful in summer."

-It's such a pity that a mere shell

-remains of this beautiful abbey.

-Yet there's just enough

-for us to imagine...

-..what a beautiful building it was.

-We can imagine Dafydd ap Gwilym

-worshipping here.

-Maybe he stayed here

-on one of his amorous tours.

-Maybe, but here's the odd thing.

-Something as solid as stone

-from that time has disappeared...

-..and yet things as soft as words

-have lasted.

-To Paradise, I sing in praise

-Dafydd ap Gwilym is surely

-the most famous of all Welsh poets.

-In his day, he was probably

-the greatest poet in Europe.

-Who exactly was he?

-Facts are few and far between.

-For example, we aren't certain

-where he was buried.

-Some think his grave

-is here in Talley.

-Others say

-it's in Strata Florida Abbey.

-Whatever the truth,

-we know that he was from Dyfed.

-His mother's family came from north

-Pembrokeshire and south Ceredigion.

-Another fact

-is almost universally accepted.

-He was born at Brogynin,

-not far from Aberystwyth.

-Born was the bard in Brogynin

-He whose cywydd was like wine

-We can be fairly sure

-that it was here...

-..about 700 years ago,

-that Dafydd ap Gwilym was born.

-Most people accept these

-to be the ruins of the poet's home.

-The building still stood

-until about a century ago.

-It was known as Ty Dafydd

-- Dafydd's house.

-A mile or two from his birthplace...

-..are places named in his poem

-Taith I Garu - journey for love.

-One is Eleirch or Elerch,

-a mile or so that way.

-Bwlch Meibion Dafydd

-is this very crossroads.

-All these places remain

-and can still be seen today.

-Dafydd ap Gwilym is a symbol.

-He's a clear and very strong symbol

-of Welshness.

-Just as Owain Glyndwr

-is a political figurehead...

-..Dafydd ap Gwilym

-is literature's icon.

-He represents something much more

-than just himself - what a man!

-As we can well imagine...

-..Dafydd ap Gwilym

-had many ancestors who were poets.

-They came from Nevern

-in north Pembrokeshire.

-Dafydd would have probably

-known all their names.

-Names such as...

-..Gwilym ap Gwrwared

-ap Cuhelyn Fardd ap Gwynfardd Dyfed.

-As well as being poets,

-they were also noblemen.

-Some of them

-worked alongside the King's men...

-..who settled here after the killing

-of Llywelyn the Last...

-..some 50 years

-before Dafydd's time.

-Not far from Nevern

-lies Newcastle Emlyn.

-Young Dafydd ap Gwilym came here

-as his uncle's apprentice.

-His uncle was Llywelyn ap Gwilym,

-the constable of the castle.

-He probably taught Dafydd Latin,

-as well as the family history.

-He also taught him

-how to write poetry.

-This would explain...

-..how Dafydd was familiar

-with foreign literature.

-He knew the conventions

-of French literature, for instance.

-His ancestors

-would have spoken French.

-He may have inherited

-this knowledge from his uncle.

-As a rule, poets of this period

-earned their living in only one way.

-They had to sing the praises

-of the nobility.

-But Dafydd ap Gwilym

-was himself a nobleman.

-He was free to write poems

-about anything he chose.

-In one of his poems,

-he makes reference to this place.

-He sings of the waterfall

-tripping over these very rocks.

-He calls it the place

-where the Teifi boils over.

-The Teifi boils over to this day.

-He enjoys life,

-even in his intense poems.

-He assumes a very positive attitude.

-He views everything positively.

-Even the holy saints wear a smile

-in Dafydd ap Gwilym's work.

-I respect the vivacity

-that permeates his work.

-I had the chance

-to portray Dafydd ap Gwilym...

-..in one of Cwmni Theatr Cymru's

-early productions.

-It was a most enjoyable play,

-Pan Ddel Mai - when May comes.

-It emphasized

-Dafydd's humour and joie de vivre.

-Companion of love and birds

-Memory of lovers and their friend

-Rather than being a poet

-in a dusty old cell...

-..the outdoors

-attracts Dafydd ap Gwilym.

-"A room is better if it grows",

-he sang.

-He prefers to be

-where trees and flowers grow.

-One poem that shows

-his love of nature...

-..is Mis Mai A Mis Tachwedd

-- May and November.

-In it, he praises the month of May.

-It allows him

-to visit his girlfriends.

-May And November

-"Hail to thee,

-Fair chancel of the greenwood

-"Summer month of May,

-since it is this I long for

-"Mighty knight, lover's boon

-"Green-chained master

-of the wild forests

-"Companion of love and birds

-"Memory of lovers and their friend.

-"Memory of Morfudd, my golden girl

-"And the thrill

-of all the escapades of love."

-He then berates November

-for being a black, angry month.

-"It forbids all from making love."

-"It causes grim rain and short days

-"And wind to strip the trees

-"And sluggishness, dreadful frailty

-"And a trailing cloak and hail

-"And incites floods and colds

-"And brown torrents in streams

-"And roaring in rivers

-"And daylight inflamed and darkening

-"And a heavy cold sky

-"Whose colour blots out the moon.

-"May it suffer, it's an easy threat

-"Two misfortunes

-for its discourtesy."

-He wishes on November

-a double dose of bad luck.

-It's a month lacking in manners!

-We may not be familiar today

-with all the words of the poem...

-..but Dafydd ap Gwilym

-clearly prefers summer to winter.

-Dafydd had obviously set out

-to portray nature in his poetry.

-The poems are full of detailed

-and vivid descriptions.

-He describes scenes in forests.

-He sings of springtime, nature

-reawakening, and of creatures.

-He often uses the image

-of birds as poets singing.

-He identified with them.

-"Fair gull on the tide, indeed

-"Of the same hue as snow

-or the white moon

-"Your beauty is without blemish

-"A piece like the sun,

-gauntlet of the brine."

-Words from the famous poem

-Yr Wylan - the seagull.

-The best way to get to know the poet

-is probably through his poems.

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-By reading the poems...

-..we discover things

-about the poet's character...

-..but we must examine the clues,

-like a detective.

-He somehow conceals

-more about himself...

-..than he actually reveals.

-I would not entice you by trickery

-From your house, fine bright tower

-Not only are we impressed with

-the subject variety in his poetry...

-..with its strength of cynghanedd,

-but also his spirit.

-He believes that life

-is to be lived to the limits.

-The world of nature

-is to be praised and enjoyed too.

-Pretty girls

-are to be loved to the limits.

-But one event in his life

-struck him down with sadness.

-Around the year 1346,

-his uncle Llywelyn was murdered...

-..by Norman soldiers,

-who by then ruled Newcastle Emlyn.

-Dafydd's sadness is obvious

-in his elegy to his uncle.

-"Llywelyn was, in truth, a wise man

-Before earth was laid about him."

-His mourning

-may possibly explain something.

-Dafydd ap Gwilym

-moved far away from Dyfed.

-He went to the court

-of a fellow nobleman.

-He was Ifor Hael of Gwern y Cleppa.

-Look at all those people

-passing by along the M4.

-We're between Cardiff and Newport.

-Do they know they're so close

-to the Court of Ifor Hael?

-It was here that Dafydd encountered

-troubadours from Provence in France.

-There were also other influences

-in this once grand location.

-Yes, but it has been a ruin

-for a long time.

-Two centuries have passed since

-Ieuan Brydydd Hir's famous poem.

-"Thorns and blight of thistle own it

-Briars, where once was greatness."

-Here it is, the Court of Ifor Hael.

-Among these ruins was once a poet

-who was ahead of his time.

-He was an adventurous poet.

-He would use French

-and English words when necessary.

-Codarmur was used for coat armour.

-He rhymed "Fleur de Lis" with "mis".

-He'd refer to the new coin,

-the florin.

-Glamorgan was very receptive

-to external influences.

-The Normans had been there

-for a long time.

-Possibly, Dafydd's awareness

-of foreign literature grew...

-..on account of his connection

-with Ifor Hael in Glamorgan.

-Dafydd would use

-the new words of his time.

-The poems show his familiarity

-with other cultures...

-..but they were also

-wholly Welsh in essence.

-I have a copy

-of a Welsh and Latin dictionary.

-It was published in 1632

-by John Davies, Mallwyd.

-There are examples

-on practically every page...

-..of words that were first used

-in Dafydd's work.

-He quotes lines from Dafydd's work.

-We often think of Dafydd ap Gwilym

-as the romantic lover.

-But I wonder whether

-he was a good-looking fellow?

-We only have one description of him.

-It was written in 1572

-by a man called David Johns.

-"I met an old woman,

-who had met another...

-..who had conversed

-with Dafydd ap Gwilym.

-"Tall was he, with long blonde hair,

-full of ringlets and silver rings."

-So he had seen someone,

-who had seen someone else...

-..who had seen Dafydd ap Gwilym.

-She had recalled him

-being a tall, slender man...

-..with long blonde hair.

-I can't say

-if it's an accurate description.

-Yet it's a striking portrayal.

-His image as a romantic poet

-has strengthened over the centuries.

-He wrote so many love poems.

-One lady with whom he was

-completely smitten was Morfudd.

-But there was a problem.

-She was married to someone else.

-"The girl from Eithinfynydd

-"My fair sweetheart,

-she will not come to a love tryst.

-"Narrow eyebrows, tender gaze

-"Fine golden hair,

-sudden harsh frown

-"My state of blessedness

-against sadness about death

-"My shapely young goddess

-"My mirror,

-radiance in golden colour

-"She is my share, my golden maiden

-"My jewel

-in the shade of the hillside

-"My love for her grows ever greater.

-"I wouldn't wish to live,

-my sickness

-"If I couldn't have

-the fine modest girl.

-"For that reason I suffer pain.

-"Gentle Morfudd, I will die."

-But one lady alone

-wasn't enough for Dafydd ap Gwilym.

-As well as Morfudd,

-he also took a fancy to Dyddgu.

-She was a more noble lady.

-Dafydd fell for her completely.

-"Whiter than the snow of spring

-"I am bereft for love

-of the gentle girl."

-That's Dafydd at his best,

-complaining again.

-He'll die if he doesn't get his way.

-But I think it's done

-tongue in cheek.

-This sets Dafydd apart

-from all his contemporaries.

-He didn't take himself

-too seriously.

-One self-image favoured by him

-was that of the fool.

-He was a Charlie Chaplin figure.

-That comparison has been made.

-Calamitous things

-were forever happening to him.

-His plans never worked out,

-especially with girlfriends.

-A good example

-is Trafferth Mewn Tafarn.

-He fancies this girl.

-He buys her food and fine wine.

-He says enchanting things to her.

-He decides to seduce her

-once everyone's gone to bed.

-He clatters into pots and furniture.

-Pandemonium ensues all around.

-Trouble At An Inn

-"I had a nasty fall

-making a commotion there

-"There were no good feats.

-"I hit my forehead

-on the edge of the table

-"Where there was a loose basin

-"And a noisy brass pan.

-"The table fell, a heavy piece

-"And the two trestles

-and all the utensils.

-"I came up (it was a remorseful

-tale) - Welshmen love me!

-"By thick walls where there were

-"Three Englishmen

-in one stinking bed

-"Worrying about their three packs

-"Hickin and Jenkin and Jack."

-He loved poking fun at the English.

-They couldn't find him anywhere.

-He sneaks back to his bed

-to lick his wounds.

-He failed to reach the girl's bed

-and asks God for forgiveness.

-"I prayed, not in fearless fashion

-"In hiding, like one afraid

-"Through the power

-of sincere prayer

-"And through the grace of Jesus

-"I escaped (thank goodness

-that saints are close by)

-"I beg to God for forgiveness."

-There's more than one image,

-one character in his work.

-Was he a godly man or not?

-He often suggests

-that God blesses his romances.

-Yet he's very obviously sinning!

-Therefore, it's difficult to know.

-That uncertainty

-is another reason for his appeal.

-Everyone can pick and choose.

-You find the Dafydd ap Gwilym

-who appeals to you.

-Not all his poetry

-is filled with raucousness.

-Dafydd converses in verse

-with the Brother Llwyd.

-He was possibly a local monk.

-The poet is advised to recite

-the paternoster and pray...

-..than write endless poems

-about women.

-Dafydd begs to differ, of course.

-He answers the old monk like this.

-"God is not as cruel

-as old men say."

-He adds his own further opinion.

-"A girl is the fairest thing

-in heaven, besides God himself."

-He revels in the beauty

-of nature and of love...

-..but Dafydd is also very aware

-of the end of life.

-He fears that the pleasures

-of this world are transient.

-Woe to us, Adam's feeble progeny

-"(Upsurge of grace)

-how short is the summer."

-He realizes that summer is brief

-and that winter will come very soon.

-Nobody knows for sure

-how Dafydd ap Gwilym died.

-Some believe that he fell victim

-to the Black Death.

-We're unsure about the resting place

-of this poetic colossus.

-Many people think the grave

-is here at Strata Florida.

-"Beneath the sad yew tree

-Lies Dafydd, sweet cywydd writer."

-The mystery of Dafydd ap Gwilym.

-It's part of the myth,

-and part of the image.

-It gives us scope perhaps

-to create this heroic figure.

-He fills that large void

-between Llywelyn and Owain Glyndwr.

-He's still with us,

-in a way, in his work.

-In his work, he is immortal.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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