Overview
The traditional Welsh poetic meters consist of 24 types of poetic meter, called in Welsh. They are all written in cynghanedd of varying degrees of complexity. The classification is often attributed to Einion Offeiriad and sometimes Dafydd Ddu Athro o Hiraddug. Although called "traditional", they were compiled – and later redefined at least once – in the Late Middle Ages and omit some of the older forms such as the . Only a few of them were widely used by the professional poets (), and the use of some of the more complicated ones is confined to occasional poems of technical virtuosity dating to the end of the Middle Ages. In fact, John Morris-Jones showed that only 12 of the meters were used by the and that the rest were added to the list by "clever and somewhat arrogant manipulation of recognized meters".
The twenty four traditional Welsh poetic meters are: ("Close meter"): * ("Uni-rhythm incursive") * ("Uni-rhythm direct") * ("Uni-rhythm inverted") * ("Prosaic interchanged") * ("Prosaic concatenated") ("Parallel meter"): * : see ("Long double distich") * ("Short double distich") * ("Tailed") * ("Multi-rhythm") ("Pindaric meter"): * ("Short and melting") * ("Short chain") * ("Rugged") * ("Short and of equal extent") * ("Long and of equal extent") * ("Nine syllabled and of equal extent") * ("Incursive with a little tail") * ("Masterpiece of the Bards") * ("Short Parenetic") * ("Long Parenetic") * ("Long and melting") * ("Short Brunt") * ("Long Brunt") * ("Soft concatenated incursive") * ("Melting")
Versions
There have been several different published versions of the twenty-four Welsh meters. Some of these include: * Peniarth MS 56 (Traethawd y Felin, & c.) – Doesn't include the Dafydd ab Edmwnd meters ( and ). * NLW MS 17116B (Latin homilies and Welsh material relating to heraldry, poetry and music) – Includes all the Edmwnd meters and the ("false measures", it refers to meters such as , , , , old measure from the Red Book of Hergest and perhaps a few others ). * Peniarth MS 155 (Llyfr Richard Phylip o Picton) – Doesn't include the . * Peniarth MS 147 (Cantrefi a chymydau Cymru, &c.) – The are included. * BL Add. 14875 – Includes the Edmwnd meters but not the . * Peniarth MS 77 (Barddoniaeth Lewis Glyn Cothi) – Doesn't include Edmwnd meters or the . * Llanstephan MS 55 (Poetry, vocabulary, Dafydd Ddu's Grammar, &c.) – Doesn't include the Edmwnd meters.
Explicitly, the notable different versions are the Dafydd ab Edmwnd meters (those listed above), the William Richards meters, and the meters.
William Richards meters
The William Richards meters are broken up into nine and fifteen , namely: : * * * * * * * * * : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cerdd Dafod meters
The meters are broken up into eight , four , and twelve , namely: : * * * * * * * * : * * * * : * * * * * * * * * * * *
Awdl-gywydd
is a type of that was originally popular amongst minstrel poets, before being adopted by professional poets in the fifteenth century. Among these was Dafydd ab Edmwnd, who decided that regular must be used in it. ) and harp stanzas. It was rare for it to be used on its own and therefore was commonly incorporated into the metrical forms and . Sometimes, is used to refer to just two lines of the normal quatrain, especially when incorporated into other forms. The rules for are that: * It must be a quatrain (four lines long). * It must have seven syllables per line. * The final syllable of the first line must rhyme with the 3rd, 4th, or 5th syllable of the second line. * The final syllable of the third line must rhyme with the 3rd, 4th, or 5th syllable of the fourth line. * The second and fourth lines must rhyme. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxA xxAxxxB xxxxxxC xxxxCxB
Byr-a-thoddaid
The meter is a quatrain made up of two couplets. One of the couplets, called , must consist of two lines that rhyme and are 8 syllables long. The other couplet, called , consists of: * One line 10 syllables long. * One line 6 syllables long. * The main rhyme of the must be found before the last syllable of the 10 sylablle line. * The syllables following the main rhyme of 10 syllable line must link to an early syllable of the 6 syllable line by using either alliteration, assonance, or a secondary rhyme. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxAxb xbxxxA xxxxxxxC xxxxxxxC where the lower case "b" denotes alliteration, assonance, or a secondary rhyme.
Cadwynfyr
The meter ("Short chain") is a quatrain created by the poet Dafydd ab Edmwnd and added to the classification at the Carmarthen Eisteddfod of , when and were removed. The rules for are that: * Every line is 8 syllables long. * Lines one and three rhyme. * Lines two and four rhyme. * There is an between lines one and two, and lines three and four. This means that line one cross-rhymes with the 4th syllable of line two, and likewise for lines three and four.
Clogyrnach
is a meter that consists of and . The rules for the meter are that: *Lines one and two must have 8 syllables with an A rhyme. *Lines three and four must have 5 syllables with a B rhyme. *Line five must have 3 syllables with a B rhyme. *Line six must have 3 syllables with an A rhyme. There is also an alternate form where lines five and six are combined into one 6 syllable line. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxA xxxxxxxA xxxxB xxxxB xxBxxA
Cyhydedd fer
The form is an octosyllabic couplet. Therefore, the rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxA xxxxxxxA
Cyhydedd hir
The meter consists of two quatrains. The rules for are that: * The first three lines of each quatrain have 5 syllables and rhyme. * The last line of each quatrain has 4 syllables. * The last lines of each of the quatrains rhyme with each other. The rhyme scheme would be: xxxxA xxxxA xxxxA xxxB xxxxC xxxxC xxxxC xxxB
Cyhydedd naw ban
is a 9 syllable long line, that must rhyme with at least one other 9 syllable long line to form at least a couplet.
Cyrch-a-chwta
is an octave stanza, that was invented by Einion Offeiriad. The rules for are that: * It is eight lines long. * Each line has 7 syllables. * Lines one–six and eight rhyme with each other. * The last syllable of line seven cross rhymes with the 3rd, 4th, or 5th syllable of line 8. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxB xxBxxxA
Cywydd deuair fyrion
is a type of that is rarely used. The rules for are that: * It is a couplet. * Each line is 4 syllables long. * It must be written in cynghanedd with the accent alternating between the last and penultimate syllables. * is not permitted in the second line of the couplet.
Cywydd deuair hirion
is a type of , and in fact, it is common for this meter to just be referred to by . The rules for are that: * It is a couplet. * Each line is 7 syllables long. * It must be written in with the accent alternating between the last and penultimate syllables. * is not permitted in the second line of the couplet.
Cywydd llosgyrnog
is a type of that is rarely used. The rules for are that: * It is six lines long. * The first,second,fourth, and fifth lines have 8 syllables. * The third and sixth lines have 7 syllables. * Lines one and two rhyme and cross rhyme with the 4th syllable of line three. * Lines four and five rhyme and cross rhyme with the 4th syllable of line six. * Lines three and six rhyme with each other. Therefore, the rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxA xxxxxxxA xxxAxxC xxxxxxxB xxxxxxxB xxxBxxC
Englyn cyrch
is a quatrain of the form, consisting of two lines of 7 syllables, followed by an . A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxB xxBxxxA
Englyn proest cyfnewidiog
is a quatrain of the form. The rules of are that: * Each line is 7 syllables long. * All four lines (consonate) with each other.
Englyn proest cadwynog
is a quatrain of the form. The rules for are that: * Each line is 7 syllables long. * Lines one and three rhyme. * Lines two and four (consonate) with lines one and three, and each other. The rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxA xxxxxoA xxxxxxA xxxxxoA where the lowercase "o" denotes consonance.
Englyn unodl crwca
is a type of . It is a quatrain consisting of a monorhyming combination of and (see ) couplets, in that order. This means that a possible rhyme scheme for would be: xxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxxAxb bxxxxxA where the lower case "b" denotes alliteration, assonance, or a secondary rhyme.
Englyn unodl union
is "by far the most popular" type of englyn. It is a quatrain consisting of a monorhyming combination of (see ) and couplets, in that order, making it the same as , except with the order of the couplets swapped. This means that a possible rhyme scheme for would be: xxxxxxxAxb bxxxxxA xxxxxxA xxxxxxA where the lower case "b" denotes alliteration, assonance, or a secondary rhyme.
Gorchest y beirdd
The meter ("Bards' masterpiece") was created by the poet Dafydd ab Edmwnd The rhyme scheme for two sections of would be: xAxB xAxB xAxB xxC xDxE xDxE xDxE xxC However, this doesnt quite capture the nature of the meter due to the . An example of a poem using the meter is: I rhwydh 'air hîr, I'w chwydh 'och wîr, I'w swydh a'i sîr, Y sydh saeth: I glai a' glyn, I rhai or hyn, I dhai y dhyn, I Dhuw dhaeth. Where italic text denotes the and bold text denotes the rhymes.
Gwawdodyn
is a quatrain. The rules for are that: * Lines one, two, and four have 9 syllables. * Line three has 10 syllables. * Lines one, two, and four rhyme with each other. * Line three has either an internal rhyme or a syllable before the last rhymes with a syllable in the fourth. Possible rhyme schemes would be: xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxBxxxxB xxxxxxxxA or xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxBx xxBxxxxxA
Gwawdodyn hir
is a sestet of the form. It is similar to a apart from there is an additional nonasyllabic couplet added to the start. The rules for are that: * Lines one, two, three, four, and six have 9 syllables. * Line five has 10 syllables. * Lines one, two, three, four, and six rhyme. * Line five has either an internal rhyme or a syllable before the last rhymes with a syllable in the fourth. Possible rhyme schemes would be: xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxBxxxxB xxxxxxxxA or xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxBx xxBxxxxxA
Hir-a-thoddaid
is a sestet, that was invented by Einion Offeiriad. It was added to the list by the middle of the fifteenth century, after a form of was removed. The rules for are that: * Lines one, two, three, four, and five have 10 syllables. * Line six has 9 syllables. * Lines one, two, three, four, and six rhyme. * A syllable near the end of line five rhymes with a syllable in the middle of line six. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxxxA xxxxxxxBxx xxxBxxxxA
Rhupunt byr
A is a line divided into three sections each of 4 syllables, the first two sections rhyme together, while the third section rhymes with other lines. is used to refer to two lines of . The rhyme scheme would be: xxxA/xxxA/xxBC xxxD/xxxD/xxBC
Rhupunt hir
is used to refer to with an additional 4 syllable section. However, it can also be used to refer to two lines of this form. The poet Dafydd ab Edmwnd decided that double rhymes must be used in it. The rhyme scheme would be: xxxA/xxxA/xxxA/xxBC xxxD/xxxD/xxxD/xxBC
Tawddgyrch cadwynog
consists of at least two lines, where each of the lines is divided into four sections. However, it is allowed for each section to be on a different line. It was invented by Einion Offeiriad and then later, Dafydd ab Edmwnd decided that double rhymes must be used in it. The rhyme scheme would be: xxxA/xxxB/xxxB/xxCD xxxA/xxxB/xxxB/xxCD
Toddaid
is a quatrain consisting of two couplets. The rules for are that: * Lines one and three are 10 syllables long. * Lines two and four are 9 syllables long. * A syllable near the end of line one cross-rhymes with a syllable near the middle of line two, and likewise with lines three and four. * Lines two and four rhyme. A possible rhyme scheme would be: xxxxxxxxAx xxxAxxxxB xxxxxxCxxx xxxxCxxxB
See also
*Welsh poetry *Welsh literature *Eisteddfod
External links
* Three examples of poetry using two of the poetic meters by Elizabeth Spencer Spragins