I thought I would post one of my favourite Welsh poems today. It is quite a famous poem amongst Welsh speakers, written by T. H. Parry-Williams(1887-1975). I studied the poetry of his first cousin R. Williams-Parry for Welsh A-level, specifically Williams-Parry’s volume of poetry “Yr Haf a cherddi eraill” (The Summer and other poems).
T. H. Parry-Williams was born in Rhyd-Ddu, in Snowdonia (North Wales).
He was educated at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and Jesus College Oxford, the University of Freiburg and la Sorbonne in Paris. He became professor of Welsh at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth (now called Aberystwyth University) and co-founded the University’s Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.
He was a very well travelled man, travelling much of the World in the 1930s by ship. I have read poems of his about the sky scrapers of New York City and the Golden Gate bridge of San Francisco Bay. But this poem, “Hon” talks about matters much closer to home. The sentiment in the poem is one not unfamiliar to many Welsh patriots, a feeling of frustration that we are not free to do as we wish and forget about our small little country and culture in their struggle for survival.
Hon
Beth yw’r ots gennyf i am Gymru? Damwain a hap
Yw fy mod yn ei libart yn byw. Nid yw hon ar fapYn ddim byd ond cilcyn o ddaear mewn cilfach gefn,
Ac yn dipyn o boendod i’r rhai sy’n credu mewn trefn.A phwy sy’n trigo’n y fangre, dwedwch i mi.
Dim ond gwehilion o boblach? Peidiwch, da chwi chlegar am uned a chenedl a gwlad o hyd;
Mae digon o’r rhain, heb Gymru, i’w cael yn y byd.Rwyf wedi alaru ers talm ar glywed grwn
Y Cymry bondigrybwyll, yn cadw swn.Mi af am dro, i osgoi eu lleferydd a’i llên,
Yn ôl i’m cynefin gynt, a’m dychymyg yn drên.A dyma fi yno. Diolch am fod ar goll
Ymhell o gyffro geiriau’r eithafwyr oll.Dyma’r Wyddfa a’i chriw; dyma lymder a moelni’r tir;
Dyma’r llyn a’r afon a’r clogwyn; ac, ar fy ngwir,Dacw’r ty lle’m ganed. Ond wele, rhwng llawr a ne’
Mae lleisiau a drychiolaeth ar hyd y lle.Rwy’n dechrau simsanu braidd; ac meddaf i chwi,
Mae rhyw ysictod fel petai’n dod drosof i;Ac mi glywaf grafangau Cymru’n dirdynnu fy mron.
Duw a’m gwaredo, ni allaf ddianc rhag hon.
Although there are quite a few translations of this poem online, translating a poem is quite a subjective thing. So, I thought I would give my own translation. I have not attempted to retain the rhyme of the poem, as I think doing so restricts one’s choice of words too much. I also have made no attempt to keep the rhythm, I have just done as literal a translation as I can, trying to convey the feeling and emotions in the poem.
This
What do I care about Wales? It is just fluke and accident
That I live within her confines. She is no more on a mapThan a small patch of land in the back end of beyond.
And a bit of a pain to those who believe in order.And who lives in this place tell me?
Just the remains of a people. Don’t you goChattering about unity and nation and country all the time
There are enough of these to be had in the World.I’ve grown tired for quite a while now
By the Welsh people, kicking up a fuss.I go for a walk, to avoid their chattering,
Back to where I’m from, my mind in a frenzy.And there I am. Grateful to be lost
Far from the words of all the extremists.Here is Snowdon and her retinue, here is the jaggedness and the barenss of the land,
Here is the lake, the river and the cliff, and upon my wordThere is the house where I was born. And look, between land and heavens
There are voices and images all over the place.I’m beginning to feel a little faint. And I say to you
It’s as if a light-headedness is coming over me.And I hear Wales’ claws beating on my chest.
God help me, I cannot escape from this.
I found the poem very insulting. The poet seemed to hate the idea of being welsh.
I think you are misinterpreting the poem. T H Parry-Williams was a strong patriot/nationalist. I think the sentiment being portrayed in this poem is similar to ideas in R. S. Thomas’ “A Welsh Landscape”. I think the poet is trying to annoy the reader into realising their feelings of patriotism, which they may not have realised they had until the poem annoys them.
And surely, the point the poet is making is that there are many things about Wales which annoy him (and surely that is true of us all), but when he returns to his “cynefin” (where he is from), he realises his roots in Wales run very deep, and he cannot escape from that sense of belonging.
At least, that’s the way I have always interpreted this poem…
A few people have mentioned to me elsewhere that this poem reminds them of R. S. Thomas’ poem “A Welsh Landscape” (and I said the same in my comment above). Here is link to a post by Peter Coles on poetry from October last year (about a year ago), and I suggested “A Welsh Landscape” as a poem for Peter to post.
http://telescoper.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/national-poetry-day/
RS Thomas’ poem is far, far more pessimistic – rather devastating in fact. Makes me want to jump out of a tree.
[…] R. S. Thomas‘ poem “Welsh Landscape“, or T. H. Parry-Williams‘ poem “Hon“, being Welsh means one can understand and identify with what the poets are trying to say in […]
[…] Haf a cherddi eraill” (“The Summer and other poems”) for A-level Welsh. I blogged here about his cousin and fellow poet T.H. Parry-Williams. The complete works of R Williams […]
Through a link one of my brothers sent the other day, I have just read “Hon” and want to say how wonderful the timing is. My brother recently discovered that we are related to Sir Parry-Williams. Some in our family on this side of the sea (America and Canada) research our genealogy, so this cousin and his poetry are lovely finds. In addition, I am reading “Hon,” in English by necessity, at my writers’ circle meeting this afternoon. Having been the first in my generation of American cousins to visit Wales, and having grown up with Welsh relatives coming to visit, I feel rich connections to my grandparents’ place of birth and heritage. I will certainly explore our cousin’s life and poetry more fully in the days to come. Thank you for your post.
I’m sure my translation isn’t the best, but it’s a poem I adore and have done ever since I first read it at 12-13 years of age. I’m glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
there is a story in our family that we are also related to T H Parry Williams though I’ve never seen or researched the genealogy! We live live in North Wales. Perhaps we are related?!
I’ve just been asked by a friend to write a few words on how I feel about being Welsh, which reminded me of this poem and prompted me to look it up for the first time since school. It sums up my sentiments perfectly, of being bored of the constant droning on of nationalists about preserving our language above all else, of not really feeling part of that Welsh ‘club’. Despite this, like the poet, am fiercely proud of my country and my Welshness is an integral part of my identity.
I’ve read a few translations of it over the years and must say yours has captured the nuances of the original poem beautifully. My only critique would be that I’ve always considered ‘Hon’ to mean ‘Her’ in this sense, that the Wales that grips him at the end us some kind of maternal force. That’s a very personal interpretation, though, of course.
Great post.
Diolch 🙂
Cyfieithiad ardderchog! Darllenwyd y fersiwn Gymraeg a throsiad Saesneg mewn digwyddiad yn Llantilio Cressenny, Sir Fynwy yn ddiweddar!
Diolch!
Byddan ni trafod am gerdd hon yn ein dosbarth Cymraeg ni heno ‘ma a rhaid i fi dod a copi eich cefieithiad chi, cefieithiad bendigedig!
Diolch, a phob lwc yn y dosbarth!
[…] Fe wnes i gyfres o brintiau leino wedi’u seilio ar y gerdd “Hon” gan TH Parry-Williams ar ddiwedd y tymor dwythaf (esgusodwch y camsillafu!). Roeddwn i’n edrych ar agweddau tuag at y Gymraeg fel iaith lleafrifol, yn dilyn ymweliad ysgwydol a Kilmainham Gaol yn Nulyn. // For my last project last term I produced a series of lino prints on the theme of attitudes towards the Welsh language. The final prints are based on the poem “Hon” by TH Parry-Williams. thecuriousastronomer.wordpress.com posted a good english translation of the poem here. […]
[…] For my last project last term I produced a series of lino prints on the theme of attitudes towards the Welsh language. The final prints are based on the poem “Hon” by TH Parry-Williams. thecuriousastronomer.wordpress.com posted a good english translation of the poem here. […]
[…] Sea legsThe excerpt from the poem Hon at the beginning of the post is famous among Welsh speakers. Below is the translation and you can find out more about the poem by clicking here. […]
diolch: thanks
“I go for a walk” is not appropriate as a translation for “Mi af am dro” as it is linked to the later phrase “a’m dychymyg mewn trên” . So it should be ” I will go on a trip by train in my imagination”. The train is very important as it would have been how TH Parry Williams would have regularly travelled between his family home in the little village of Rhyd Ddu in Snowdonia and Porthmadog on what is now part of the Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Porthmadog.