Dafydd ap Gwilym (c. 1315/1320 – c. 1350/1370), is generally regarded as the greatest Welsh poet of all time and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic (Dafydd ap Gwilym scholar R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests ca. Professor Emeritus R Geraint Gruffydd (b June 9, 1928) MA DPhil FBA is a scholar of Welsh language and literature and a Theologian. 1315-ca. 1350 as his dates; other scholars place him a little later, ca. 1320-ca. 1370. )
Contents |
Life
Tradition has it that he was born at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch (at the time Llanbadarn Fawr parish), Ceredigion. Llanbadarn Fawr is a Village and Parish in Ceredigion, Wales and is located on the outskirts of Aberystwyth situated next to Geography List of places in CeredigionCeredigion is a coastal county bordered by Cardigan Bay to the west Gwynedd to the north Powys to the east His father, Gwilym Gam, and mother, Ardudfyl, were both from noble families. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime As one of noble birth it seems Dafydd did not belong to the guild of professional poets in medieval Wales, and yet the poetic tradition had been strong in his family for generations.
According to R. Geraint Gruffydd he died in 1350, a possible victim of the Black Death. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Tradition says that he was buried within the precinct of the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey, Ceredigion. Strata Florida Abbey (in Welsh Abaty Ystrad Fflur) is a former Cistercian Abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron Geography List of places in CeredigionCeredigion is a coastal county bordered by Cardigan Bay to the west Gwynedd to the north Powys to the east
Poetry
It is believed that about one hundred and seventy of his poems have survived, though many others have been attributed to him over the centuries. His main themes were love and nature. The influence of wider European ideas of courtly love, as exemplified in the troubadour poetry of Provençal, is seen as a significant influence on Dafydd's poetry. Courtly love was a Medieval European conception of ennobling love which found its genesis in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 Provençal ( Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people mostly in Provence (in southern France
He was an innovative poet who was responsible for popularising the metre known as the "cywydd" and first to use it for praise. The cywydd (plural cywyddau) is one of the most important metrical forms in Welsh traditional poetry But perhaps his greatest innovation was to make himself the main focus of his poetry. By its very nature, most of the work of the traditional Welsh court poets kept their own personalities far from their poetry. Dafydd's work is full of his own feelings and experiences. His main theme is love, and many of his poems are addressed to women, but particularly to two of them, Morfudd and Dyddgu. He is also recognised as very fine nature poet. His best-known works include the following poems:
- Morfudd fel yr haul (=Morfudd like the sun), a poem to the wife of an Aberystwyth merchant that seems to have had a long affair with Dafydd, and whom he addressed in many poems;
- Merched Llanbadarn (=The girls of Llanbadarn), in which he speaks of going to church on Sunday purely in order to ogle the local women;
- Trafferth mewn tafarn (=Trouble in a tavern), in which he recounts an incident in a tavern that would be worthy of any slapstick film;
- Y Rhugl Groen (=The Rattle Bag), in which Dafydd's intercourse with a young girl is cruelly interrupted; and
- Cywydd y gal (=A poem in praise of the penis), a risqué piece of pure medieval erotica. Aberystwyth (Mouth of the River Ystwyth ˌæbəˈrɪstwɪθ Dialect: abɛrˈəstɔʏθ is a historic Market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Erotica (from the Greek Eros —"desire" or "curiosa" works of art including literature, photography film sculpture Until recently not anthologised as Dafydd's for reason of editorial squeamishness.
See also
Bibliography
- Rachel Bromwich, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Writers of Wales series. The term Welsh literature may be used to refer to any Literature originating from Wales or by Welsh writers. See also:CategoryWelsh-language poets Welsh language poetry has until quite recently been regulated by specific verse forms ( Canu Caeth (Cardiff, 1974, University of Wales Press). An introduction in English.
- Rachel Bromwich, Aspects of the Poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym (Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1986).
- Rachel Bromwich (ed. ), Dafydd ap Gwilym : poems, Welsh Classics series (Llandysul, 2003, Gomer Press). ISBN.
- Helen Fulton (ed. ), Selections from the Dafydd ap Gwilym apocrypha, Welsh Classics series (Llandysul, 1996, Gomer Press). ISBN-X.
- Helen Fulton, Dafydd ap Gwilym and the European context (Cardiff. 1989, University of Wales Press). ISBN.
- Thomas Parry (ed. ), Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym (2nd revised ed. , Caerdydd, 1963, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru). Still the standard edition of Dafydd's work; edited texts with extensive notes.
- Gwyn Thomas (ed. ), Dafydd ap Gwilym : his poetry(Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 2001). ISBN. Includes a complete translation of the poems and a useful introduction.
External links
- Dafydd ap Gwilym and Welsh literary tradition on the BBC History website.
- Trafferth Mewn Tafarn - Two English translations of Dafydd ap Gwilym's 'Trafferth Mewn Tafarn'
- Mis Mai a Mis Ionawr - An English translation of Dafydd ap Gwilym's 'Mis Mai a Mis Ionawr'
- A new edition of the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym by a team of academics from the University of Wales
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic