Translations into English Verse from the Poems of Davyth ap Gwilym/The Bard invites Dyddgu

Translations into English Verse from the Poems of Davyth ap Gwilym
by Dafydd ap Gwilym, translated by Arthur James Johnes
3993750Translations into English Verse from the Poems of Davyth ap GwilymArthur James JohnesDafydd ap Gwilym

THE BARD INVITES DYDDGU TO THE HOUSE OF LEAVES.


Maid of dark and glossy tresses,
Humbly I request,
In Dol Aeron’s[1] green recesses,
Thee to be my guest,
At a feast—but not of food
Fit for husbandman’s repast,
Or for Saxon[2]—comrade rude!
Not of flesh that might supply
Nuptial festivity—
Not of mingled wheat and rye,
Meet to break a reaper’s fast:—
On no other sweets we’ll feed
Than the nightingale and mead!
In that room above thy head,
Birchen boughs their shelter spread,—
Beauteous spot of fairest ground,
For the deer to range around,
For grey Philomel’s clear wail,
And the thrush’s merry tale.
There nine trees together stand,
Mid the woods, (oh! lovely band,)

Twined into a bright retreat,
For the birds of heaven to meet,
Forming round our leafy seat
On the earth a circle fair—
A green steeple in the air—
And, below, a glorious hall,
Made of golden trefoils all.
Noble arbour—verdant nook—
For the maid of modest look;
House by bright clear waters piled—
Waters ne’er by smoke defiled,
Place of ecstacy and song,
Of tall trees and tangled ground;
There the ousels rear their young,
There a fortress may be found—
Verdant turrets that enclose
Faithful lovers from their foes!
Wilt thou, then, or wilt thou not,
Visit me in that bless’d spot?
For thyself thou must declare,
Come—thou must—and meet me there!

  1. ‘Aeron’ is a river in Cardiganshire; ‘Dol Aeron,’ or ‘Dol yr Aeron,’ implies the meadow or bank of the Aeron.
  2. Gluttony is a vice generally ascribed to the English of those days, who were termed “Saxons” by their Welsh neighbours.