Much of
Welsh language
poetry has, until quite recently, been composed in various forms of strict metre (
canu caeth
), latterly with the encouragement of the
eisteddfod
movement. The following list is as inclusive as possible for the years prior to 1600. It includes as many minor poets as possible to illustrate the range and content of Welsh poetry throughout the ages. However much early poetry has been lost, and much medieval verse is either anonymous or, usually in the case of mythological poems and prophetic verse, attributed to the 6th-century poet Taliesin or the mythical figure of
Myrddin
. Early religious and gnomic verse is also usually anonymous. Where possible examples of each poet's surviving work is presented at
Welsh Poetry at Wikisource
Each period of the poets listed below is accompanied by a graphical timeline to illustrate the main events and individuals that influenced the poets and their work. These timelines also depict the development of the Welsh language. Further details of its development may be found at
Welsh language
.
Pre 6th century
[
edit
]
No works by Welsh poets prior to the 6th century have survived. Tradition records:
- Maelgwyn of Llandaff (c. 450) ? said, according to one source, to have written of
Joseph of Arimathea
's burial at
Glastonbury
.
[1]
However, in the mid-5th century he would have spoken
Brythonic
, not Welsh, and as a monk would probably have written in Latin. His existence is doubtful.
- St. Meugan (fl. c. late 5th century) ? possibly a court poet to
Cadwallon of Gwynedd
6th century to 1100
[
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]
Extant
[
edit
]
The bulk of surviving verse from the period known as "Canu'r Bwlch" is anonymous.
(see Wikisource)
The works of the following poets, belonging to the
Hengerdd
or
Cynfeirdd
period, are extant and accepted as probably genuine:
The following works are probably apocryphal:
Non-extant or doubtful
[
edit
]
Four others are named by
Nennius
as poets of renown alongside
Taliesin
and
Aneirin
:
- Arofan
(7th century)
- Cuhelyn the Bard
[
cy
]
(?9th century) ? referred to in several poems but otherwise unknown. None of his work survives. The earliest reference to him is in a text
[1]
(
English version
) found in the
Black Book Of Carmarthen
. However, a later charter of Sir Nicholas FitzMartin,
Marcher Lord
of
Kemes
, off-handedly describes someone as his descendant; the charter grants the supposed descendant land in the
Preseli Hills
.
[3]
[4]
- Bleheris (?11th century) ? an otherwise unknown poet of doubtful authenticity referred to as "born and bred in Wales" in
Gawain
and as a source for the story.
[5]
Other
[
edit
]
- Myrddin ab Morfryn ? was believed by some to be an historical person who died in AD 570, but is now accepted as a mythical figure (see
Merlin
).
[6]
Timeline
[
edit
]
1100 to 1290
[
edit
]
The following group of court poets used to be called the
Gogynfeirdd
and are now generally referred to as "Beirdd y Tywysogion", the
Poets of the Princes
. The list is roughly chronological.
Timeline of major poets
[
edit
]
1290 to c.1500
[
edit
]
The poets of this period are known as Beirdd yr Uchelwyr. The list is fairly chronological but not exhaustive as the work of some minor poets of the late 15th and 16th centuries remains in manuscript and a large corpus of late medieval
Darogan
, prophetic verse, is anonymous or attributed to early poets. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards.
Timeline of major poets
[
edit
]
16th century
[
edit
]
Most of the earlier poets here are very much in the
Beirdd yr Uchelwyr
tradition. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards. The free verse and strict metre poets sit rather uneasily together in this list.
Timeline of major poets
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury", Theo Brown, Folklore, Vol. 57, No.2, 1946.
- ^
Sir Ifor Williams, 'Beginnings of Welsh Poetry', University of Wales Press, Second Revised Edition,1980
- ^
Baronia de Kemeys. From the original documents at Bronwydd.
, Sir Thomas Davies Lloyd (Bt.), London, 1862, p.48
- ^
An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire
,
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
, 1914, Volume 4, p 276
- ^
Bleheris
"J. L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Cambridge University Press 1920"
- ^
Myrddin "
A.O.H. Jarman
, 'A oedd Myrddin yn Fardd Hanesyddol?', (Studia Celtica 1976)
- ^
J Lloyd-Jones, 'The Court Poets of the Welsh Princes', Proceedings of the British Academy, 1948
- ^
Gwaith Tudur Aled, Thomas Gwynn Jones (ed.), (Cardiff, 1926).
- ^
Andrew Breeze, 'Two bardic themes: the Virgin and Child, and Ave-Eva', Medium Aevum, Vol. 63, 1994
- ^
'Llanarthney ? Llanbedrog', A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849), pp. 478?93. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47842
- ^
Islwyn Jones (ed.), Gwaith Hywel Cilan (Caerdydd, 1963)
- ^
Owen Thomas, 'Gwaith Dafydd Epynt', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2002
- ^
"Dafydd ap Ieuan Llwyd"
.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography
.
National Library of Wales
. Retrieved
27 September
2016
.
- ^
Looker, Ray (Mrs Ray Morgan).
"Morus Dwyfech, or Mours ap Dafydd ab Ifan ab Einion"
. Dictionary of Welsh Biography
. Retrieved
December 18,
2016
.
His will, in the form of a poem, expressed the poet's desire to be buried at Penllech, and, from the elegies composed to him by Sion Phylip and Huw Pennant, it is evident that his wish was granted.
- ^
Rhiannon Ifans, 'Gwaith Syr Dafydd Trefor', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2006
- ^
Catholic Online Saints:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4599
- ^
a
b
(Peniarth Manuscript. 287)
- ^
(NLW MS. (1553) Llanst. MSS. (123, 125, and 133)
- ^
(N.L.W. MSS. 695)
- ^
(B.M. Add. MS. 14906)
- ^
(Mostyn MS 144)