67
BARDIC CONTROVERSIES.
THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN DAVYTH AP GWILYM AND GRYFFYTH GRYG.
This poetical dispute consists chiefly of terms of abuse; the following, however, the first poem by Gryffyth, has some naïveté and humour, and may serve as a specimen of the style in which these poetical quarrels were carried on.
GRYFFYTH GRYG’S SATIRE ON DAVYTH AP GWILYM.
This sad and simple bard of ours,
In song—a thousand sorrows kill him,
Despair o’er all his visions lowers,
And yet—he lives—the sweet ap Gwilym!
Still lives, and woos, and loves, and sings:
And though he suffers ten times more
Than Cambrian e’er endured before—
No sickness stops his carollings!
Pangs, numerous as the stars of night,
Consume the body of the wight!
And yet this tuneful man of sorrow,
From love—draws every pang and pain,
And thus, though slain to-day—to-morrow
He lives to groan and grieve again!
