John Bollard 1
Translation from the poetry of the 14th century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym.
An Invitation to Dyddgu
As important as Morfudd was to Dafydd ap Gwilym, she was not the only woman in his life. In nine poems he speaks of a dark-haired beauty named Dyddgu, the daughter of Ieuan ap Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, a member of the royal Welsh dynasty of South Wales. In one poem Dafydd rather boldly reveals his love for Dyddgu directly to her father. In the following poem, he sends an invitation to Dyddgu to join him in a birch grove in Minafon, between Aberystwyth and Llanbadarn, where even today lovers can be seen taking a pleasant walk along the river Rheidol. Secluded green groves of trees, Dafydd frequently tells us, were his favorite sort of place. I will let him explain why.
Minafon – Photo: Anthony Griffiths
An Invitation for DyddguRadiant girl of a gifted nature,
Dyddgu with the smooth black hair,
I invite you – hidden desire is anger’s refuge –4 to the vale of Minafon.
No feeble invitation would suit you.
No greedy man’s invitation to his shack will it be.
No provisions for the benefit of a young reaper,8 no corn, bright green mixed corn,
no bit of a ploughman’s dinner,
and no meaty feast of a serf,
no Englishman’s visit with his friend,12 no razor celebration of a bondman.
No promise will I make – a good ending –
to my golden one but a nightingale and mead,
a light-voiced brown-backed nightingale16 and a thrush with hearty, pleasant speech,
shaded growth, and a chamber
of verdant birch. Was there ever a better house?
While we are out under the leaves20 our fine strong birch will guard us.
A loft for the birds to play in,
a pleasant grove – that’s the way it is.
Nine trees of fair appearance24 are in the wood altogether:
at the bottom, a rounded circumference;
at the top, a green bell tower.
And beneath them – desirable dwelling –28 verdant clover – manna from heaven –
a place where two – a crowd worries them –
or three can spend an hour or so,
a place where noble roebucks come from the hill,32 a place where birds sing – it is a fine place –
a place of dense blackbird dwellings,
a place of splendid trees, a place hawks are reared,
a place of good new building-trees,36 a place of great desire, a place of heaven on earth,
a place with a green mansion, a place frowns are mild,
a place near water, a cool smoke-free place,
a place not well-known – thickly wooded land –40 to flour merchants and long-legged cheese makers.
There tonight, wave’s brightness,
let us go, the two of us, my fair girl,
let us go, if we go anywhere, lively one fair of face,44 my girl with eyes bright as coals.
Notes: 4 Minafon: the name means ‘riverbank’, from min ‘side, edge, bank’ + afon ‘river’ (as in the Avon, the river in England with an ancient Celtic name). 12 razor celebration: neithior arf barf, literally ‘celebration of a beard weapon’, is generally interpreted as the celebration of a young man’s ritual shaving when he comes of age. 40 Why “flour merchants and long-legged cheese makers”? Of course, they represent the contrasting town life from which he hopes to escape with Dyddgu, but surely they are there primarily for the rhyme and alliteration: Blotai neu gawsai goesir.
"Action is everything.
With it we are successful.
Without it all our enthusiasm is worse than nothing."-- David Ruggles, 1841