Translations into English Verse from the Poems of Davyth ap Gwilym/Imitation
IMITATION OF LLYWARCH HÊN’S LAMENT OVER CYNDDYLAN.
Llywarch Hên was a prince and bard of the seventh century. His works have been published by Dr. W. Owen Pughe, with a prose translation. The following is an imitation of his Elegy on Cynddylan, lord of the district about Shrewsbury, who was cut off by an incursion of the Saxons.
Cynddylan’s hearth is dark to-night,
Cynddylan’s halls are lone,
War’s flame has revell’d o’er their might,
And quell’d their minstrel’s tone,
And I am left to chaunt apart
One murmur of a broken heart!
Pengwern’s[1] blue spears are gleamless now,
Her revelry is still,
The sword has blanched her chieftain’s brow,
Her fearless sons are still,
And pagan feet to dust have trod
The dark robed messengers of God!
Cynddylan’s shield, Cynddylan’s pride,
The wand’ring snows are shading,
One palace pillar stands to guide
The woodbine’s verdant braiding!
And I am left from all apart—
The minstrel of the broken heart!
- ↑ Shrewsbury.