Gwlad Beirdd: Dic Jones Gwlad Beirdd

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-A melody may be silenced

-But it sings still in your mind.

-One of the first poems

-I learnt by heart...

-..was Sioni Wynwns by Dic Jones.

-"Who comes again one autumn day

-"From door to door

-the same old way?"

-As a boy, I met Dic Jones

-on the National Eisteddfod field.

-I was thrilled

-to see the great poet in the flesh.

-I'm sure that hundreds of people

-all over Wales...

-..have an image of him,

-or a line of his, in their mind.

-While lives mankind

-shall live the farmer

-And an ancient breed

-succeed its sire.

-An old legend persists.

-It says that this cromlech

-is Taliesin's grave.

-He is the father

-of our poetic tradition.

-Not everyone believes the story...

-..but I like to think it's true.

-What is true is that Dic Jones's

-birthplace is nearby.

-We tend to associate him

-with southern Ceredigion.

-But Penygraig farm, a mile or two

-from here, was his mother's home.

-That was the birthplace

-of the popular Chief Bard.

-Significantly, we have recorded

-the birthplace of Dic Jones.

-We link it with Taliesin's grave.

-Both were such influential poets.

-A square mile connects them.

-The circle appears complete.

-And life still goes on.

-I complete the wheel's circle.

-There's a recurring image

-in his poetry.

-He talks about the wheel of life.

-It's something

-that we have to accept.

-It rolls forward,

-and it gives life its purpose.

-Dic's message was that spring

-would always return.

-Everything came in its season.

-It was a big theme in his life.

-A time for everything.

-As one are the floors

-of the grave and the cradle.

-Here we are in Yr Hendre.

-He became known nationally as

-Dic Yr Hendre, Archdruid of Wales.

-It's impossible to separate

-Dic Jones from this farm.

-So many of his poems, of course,

-are based on experiences...

-..gained living and working here.

-He says this about it.

-"In smiles and sorrow,

-it is to me a magical place."

-I return with summer older

-To the hayfield, and to gather.

-On these fields,

-he had felt hardship and cold.

-He had also felt...

-.."the funereal wind

-blowing fiercely...

-"..through my clothes

-right to the bone."

-But he also saw

-the indications of new life here.

-He saw the birds in spring...

-.."speeding to Pen Cribach,

-taking food to their chicks."

-He was a country poet.

-He lived there.

-He loved the countryside.

-His eyes were everywhere.

-He heard and smelt the countryside.

-You smell the countryside

-in his poems as well as seeing it.

-Another local farming family

-played a pivotal role...

-..in his poetic development.

-Some nine miles from Yr Hendre

-was the Cilie family's farm.

-Cilie is famous throughout Wales.

-Jeremiah and Mary Jones lived here.

-They had twelve children.

-Six of their sons were poets.

-They took part in poetic contests

-against one another.

-Among them were Fred, SB and Isfoel.

-Dic Jones came

-to this close-knit bardic community.

-He would become

-a pupil of the masters.

-One in particular stood out,

-Alun Jeremiah Jones.

-Alun Cilie,

-the youngest of the brood.

-The influence of Bois y Cilie

-on Dic was significant, naturally.

-His father, Alban Lewis, realized

-that his son could write a bit.

-His father first took him to Cilie.

-He wanted him to meet the master.

-Dic then started to go on his own.

-On Saturday nights,

-he would meet Alun and Llew.

-He would go to Cilie farm,

-to see Alun.

-The education was informal.

-There was no pencil and paper.

-To a degree, as Dic always said...

-..you had to persevere

-to hear the cynghanedd.

-That was the lesson in one sense.

-When Alun spoke in cynghanedd...

-..if you had spotted it,

-well, you'd learnt something.

-Cilie is Wales

-And Wales has many a Cilie.

-Against this strong

-agricultural background...

-..it's no surprise that the land

-inspired a famous poem of his.

-He wrote it for the Aberavon

-National Eisteddfod in 1966.

-He won the Chair at the National

-for his ode Cynhaeaf - harvest.

-He was delighted,

-and I can see us here now.

-The post van came to the yard.

-The letter came

-in a brown envelope.

-He opened it and said,

-"Great, I've got it."

-I saw this guy

-on television at college.

-He was like a GI with his haircut.

-"This guy's won the Chair."

-He's a real guy,

-not like a poet, wearing a tie.

-And then I read Cynhaeaf.

-Gosh, I could understand it!

-The words conjured up images.

-They weren't just words

-and cynghanedd.

-It all flowed so simply.

-That was Dic. He was excellent.

-A railway of chaff on the road

-Plainly where its wheels had been.

-Following on from the harvest

-came an ode about spring.

-This gave him the chance

-to pay tribute...

-..to his bardic teacher, Alun Cilie.

-Dic Jones thought the world of him.

-In his eyes, to receive praise

-from one of the Cilie clan...

-..was the highest accolade

-in the world of literature.

-Certainly, his ode Gwanwyn

-rises far beyond...

-..any controversies

-about Eisteddfod prizes.

-On the one hand...

-..it tells us that life

-marches on, come what may.

-On the other hand, it tells us...

-..that something as soft

-as a raindrop can move stones.

-"Gentle May,

-let the dove bring a leaf

-"Way above the flowing river

-"Let the swallow restore the summer

-"To shorten Seren's aching winter

-"Let the black musician

-high in the trees

-"Tune her yellow flute

-to your springtime breeze.

-"In the ditch, I saw carcasses

-"Of frail, frostbitten lambs

-"The heavy tax of the gripping cold

-"Sad playthings

-in the icy wind's hold.

-"But the fields are full of lambs

-"New mercury on old acres

-"Wildly blessing

-with their tipsy tails

-"Their mothers' flowing wine.

-"While age-old families

-harvest fruits

-"And sow the seeds of future roots

-"While the birds

-come in pairs to nest in branches

-"While the sheep graze, while

-horses' hooves try out new dances

-"The spring of springs

-will ever more

-"Open its door throughout the ages.

-"While the next bird

-hatches in a parents' nest

-"Faith's flame will burn,

-no matter the test

-"A restless man will open furrow

-"And the fields

-will see the glint of the harrow

-"Spring and birth

-eternal shall remain

-"And the rocks

-shall yield to the gentle rain."

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-Come, breeze of Eire,

-to our aching land.

-Imagine how it was in there...

-..when a young Dic Jones

-ventured into the small room.

-He was soon accepted by the lads.

-The Pentre Arms

-was that select group's sanctuary.

-No wonder, as the landlord

-was another son of Cilie!

-How many thousands of lines

-of poetry were produced there?

-The lads, on Saturday nights,

-used to speak in cynghanedd.

-They'd spar with each other,

-Alun and Dic and T Llew.

-There was a lot of fun at that time.

-Dic always emphasized

-that cynghanedd was an oral craft.

-In our area, in the south

-of Ceredigion, in the Cilie area...

-..it was an inextricable part

-of everyday life.

-It was a means of passing on news.

-It was a means of recording news.

-It was a means of grieving.

-It was a means to celebrate.

-In this way, of course,

-poetry became a form.

-The people's story was kept going.

-An integral part of farming life

-is the trip to market or mart.

-I imagine that many of Dic Jones's

-poems were conceived...

-..after chatting with friends

-in the course of buying and selling.

-On the subject of work,

-he had understood it well.

-He said that hard work

-could be enjoyable and comforting.

-"Effort is healthy

-Exhaustion also breeds success

-"A task is full of fun

-Work has its comfort and ease."

-One thing is indisputable.

-Dic would be wholly engrossed

-when creating poetry.

-Dic might just as well not have

-been here, nor I, nor anyone.

-His mind was absolutely focused

-on what he was writing.

-If you saw him by the hedge,

-lighting his pipe...

-..things were serious.

-He would jot things down

-on the back of an envelope.

-If he said "Jiawl, 'na fe,"

-you knew he'd cracked it!

-He would be back with us

-until the next task.

-In the world of sport,

-the focal point is the stadium.

-This is the stadium

-for this area's cynghanedd squads.

-This is the Emlyn Hotel.

-In this headquarters, Dic Jones

-would hold his cynghanedd classes.

-He was the coach

-of the poetic contestants.

-You can almost hear the words

-all around you as you enter.

-CACOPHONY OF VOICES

-His way of thinking helped me.

-His thoughts came like this.

-From the side.

-You might be given a theme,

-for example, "The Village."

-You'd think of an ordinary village.

-He'd think differently.

-The universe is a village.

-Our house becomes a village.

-His alternative view

-was a lesson for me.

-A man who knows

-that he knows nothing

-Knows more than all his teachers.

-In addition to the National Chair...

-..Dic Jones

-won the Urdd Chair five times.

-He produced seven volumes of poetry.

-He enthralled audiences

-all over Wales in poetic contests.

-But this is how

-he describes the biggest prize.

-"When you craft a poem which is

-totally and utterly satisfying...

-"..you know

-down in the depths of your soul...

-"..that it matters not

-what an adjudicator or anyone says.

-"It's as though you have derived

-assistance from an external force.

-"As though it had always existed.

-"You have been fortunate enough...

-"..to be in just the right place

-to find it.

-"One has truly received the prize."

-He probably felt that way...

-..on completing this perfect poem.

-It's simple and straightforward,

-but it says it all.

-"My hopes are a part of you

-"My suffering and fear are yours

-"In your golden hours,

-my pride is full of you

-"In your darkest hours,

-my prayer is for you

-"Where you are, the whole world

-is better, it's true

-"My whole joy, my friend,

-is made of you."

-He mixed with people all his life.

-There are so many examples

-arising from his work...

-..that I know have offered comfort.

-People have said

-that reading Dic's poems...

-..has enabled them to come to terms

-with some awful experience.

-It may have been a bereavement.

-For Dic, it was a catharsis

-to write these pieces.

-He couldn't help himself.

-This was all the more so

-if something had happened to us.

-We had our share of troubles.

-I know that they helped

-a great many people.

-I meet people who quote works by Dic

-that have been a comfort to them.

-Different poems

-comfort different people.

-The gift of weeping

-is humankind's value.

-In his poem Miserere...

-..Dic Jones

-takes us from despair to hope.

-We're taken

-from grey clouds to the sun.

-It's over there somewhere.

-"There is worse suffering than mine

-"In the hearts of men, I know

-"But which heavy heart

-is made lighter

-"Knowing the suffering of another?

-"There is a heavier burden than mine

-"Its weight making weak other men

-"There is an anguish,

-maybe, that's greater

-"But no anguish is as bitter.

-"Grey clouds gather,

-encircling me

-"Their fear drawing nearer

-"On black waves, they keep coming

-"And my doubts are ever increasing.

-"What's the point of warm words?

-"Fellowship and friendship?

-It's all false.

-"Nobody knows

-others' hopes for tomorrow

-"Nor the neighbours' silent sorrow.

-"No doubt the weather

-will get better

-"Spring will be a softer season

-"Yet this heart cannot see

-"The golden rock on the horizon.

-"Onwards, though I know not where

-"A glistening cloud

-shines out its silver

-"Above the fog

-through the black fear

-"A piece of the sun,

-somewhere yonder."

-I think I've read Dic's books

-more since his death...

-..than I did when he was alive.

-There are things I search for.

-Yes, I think that's true.

-There are some things, by now,

-that maybe I understand better.

-Everything about Dic was big.

-Big glasses, big hands.

-And a big heart.

-Dic was a big hero to me.

-"A piece of the sun,

-somewhere yonder."

-How often has that line

-lifted people's spirits?

-There's a quiet optimism...

-..and a kind of quiet acceptance

-in so many of his poems.

-He keeps returning

-to this same message.

-We must live

-through the fun and the tears.

-He realizes that this

-is the order of things.

-What we have in Dic's poems

-are the great eternal themes.

-Timeless themes.

-It so happened that the countryside

-and the fields were his observatory.

-That was coincidental.

-He had a great vision.

-He possessed great narrative skill.

-His work will stand the test of time

-without a shadow of a doubt.

-"Seeing, sometime, a second visit

-"The same journey

-And the same friends once more

-"The same fun, and the same tears

-"As is the order, the second time."

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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