Chapter IV: WELSH LITERATURE.--The oldest documents consist of glosses of the (2)

5. _The Silver Age of the Cywydd, 1440-1550._--The insurrection of Owen Glyndwr, though originally the result of a private quarrel, was the general revolt of a nation against the conquerors whom it hated, and the English king knew well enough that the discontent with his rule was fanned by the older and more national Welsh institutions, and by none more than by the system of wandering bards. The conditions which had given rise to this system were fast dying out, but the noblemen, who fortunately were still intensely Welsh, were loth to give up their family bards, and the bards themselves, never a too industrious class, were too glad of their freedom and easy life to turn to more profitable work. We find, therefore, that a law was passed in 1403, the fourth year of Henry IV.'s reign, prohibiting bards "and other vagrants" from exercising their profession in Gwynedd or North Wales. This law, however, like its predecessor in the reign of Edward I., failed utterly in its purpose. By prohibiting the Welsh noblemen from giving their patronage to the bards, and, therefore, from distinguishing between the real bards and the mendicant rhymesters, this law took away the only safeguard against the latter class, with the result that by about 1450 they had become a pest to the country. About that time there flourished a poet called Llawdden, who, noticing the very unsatisfactory state of poetry in Wales, induced his kinsman, Gruffydd ab Nicolas, a nobleman living in Y Drenewydd (Newtown), to petition Henry VI. for permission to hold an eisteddfod similar in purpose to the three _Eisteddfodau Dadeni_ of the last period. This famous eisteddfod was held at Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) in 1451, and shortly before the actual eisteddfod was held a "statute" was drawn up under the direction of Llawdden, regulating the different orders of bards and musicians and setting in order the _cynghaneddion a mesurau_, the different kinds of alliterative verse to be presented to the assembled bards at the meeting. Among those present at that eisteddfod the most distinguished was Dafydd ab Edmwnd, who then made famous the dictum that the purpose of an eisteddfod was "to bring to mind the past, to consider the present, and to deliberate about the future." He, therefore, proposed emendations in "the rules of Welsh verse," making them more strict, so as to keep the unlearned rhymesters from the privileged bardic class. This measure had a most important effect on Welsh literature. It effectively put an end to the charming spontaneity which distinguishes the poetry of Dafydd ab Gwilym and his contemporaries, and by introducing an arbitrary set of rules gave an artificial tone to almost all the poetry of the next two hundred years. It had, indeed, exactly the same retarding effect on Welsh poetry as the Unities had on the French drama. So that, whereas the poems of Dafydd ab Gwilym, though written in the difficult alliterative metres, are nearly all light and have a sweet lyrical re-echo, the poetry of Dafydd ab Edmwnd and his successors is often heavy and nearly always artificial. After making, however, all these deductions, it is a debatable point whether the hard and fast rules which now regulated Welsh poetry did not eventually justify their existence. They have helped, by inciting to carefulness, to keep the idiom and the language pure and undefiled, and to this day style in Welsh poetry is not necessarily a striving after the uncommon as it too often is in English.

There are some poets included in this period who belong more properly to the last, but even these show signs of the attempt at correctness and distinction which was supplanting the old simplicity. Ieuan ap Rhydderch ab Ieuan Llwyd, who is supposed to be a brother of the Llio Rhydderch of Dafydd Nanmor's poem, is the author of some cywyddau and other poems addressed to the Virgin, the structure of which shows great skill accompanied by force and clearness. He flourished about 1425. Dafydd ab Meredydd ap Tudur, who flourished about 1420, is the author of a cywydd "to Our Saviour." About the same time lived Rhys Nanmor, Ieuan Gethin ab Ieuan, and Ieuan Llwyd ab Gwilym. Among the earliest of the poets who belong properly to this period is Meredydd ap Rhys, whose cywyddau are a fair specimen of the generality of poems written in these years. Among the most famous of his works is a cywydd "begging for a fishing-net," and another giving thanks for the same. We shall find that many of his contemporaries were able to write long and interesting poems on such seemingly dry and uninteresting subjects, but it is vain to look for anything beyond good verse in such compositions. Of poetry, as generally understood, there is none.

Dafydd ab Edmwnd

The commanding figure in this period is, of course, Dafydd ab Edmwnd, who was a disciple of Meredydd ap Rhys. He bears somewhat the same relation to his contemporaries as Dafydd ab Gwilym does to his, and to strain an analogy, we might say that as Dryden was to Milton, so Dafydd ab Edmwnd was to Dafydd ab Gwilym. He was regarded by his contemporaries as the greatest poet that North Wales had ever produced, and some would set him up as a rival even to Dafydd ab Gwilym himself. He would probably have produced much greater poetry had he understood that the cywydd and the other metres were strait and shackled enough without the _cymeriadau_ and other devices which he introduced, or at least sanctioned and made popular. He begins many of his cywyddau and odes with the same letter; he is the chief among Welsh formalists, but in spite of his self-imposed restrictions he is a great poet also. His most famous poems are three _Cywyddau Merch_ or "Poems to a Lady," and his _Cywydd i Wallt Merch_, "cywydd to a lady's hair." He is the author of the lines already quoted: "thy brow," he sings, "is as the snow of yesternight, and thy cheeks like a shower of roses." He died about 1480. Dafydd ab Edmwnd's disciples were Gutyn Owain and Tudur Aled, who was also his nephew. Gutyn Owain lived between 1420 and 1500, and was one of the men appointed by the king's commissioners to trace, or perhaps to manufacture, the Welsh pedigree of Henry VII. He belonged entirely to the school inaugurated by Dafydd ab Edmwnd, and though he was by no means wanting in imagination, the highest distinction of his verse is its intricacy of form and very often the felicity of his couplets.

Just as the rise of Owen Glyndwr in the beginning of the century had given a new impulse and a new interest to poetry, so in 1485, when Henry VII.--the "little bull" as he is called by the poets--ascended the throne of England, a particular kind of poetry called _brud_, half history and half prophecy, became popular, and we have in the manuscripts much writing of this description, a good deal of it worthless as poetry. Occasionally, however, some of these "bruts" may claim to be called poetry, especially the compositions of Robin Ddu o Fon, who wrote poems in praise of the Tudors and hailed them as the deliverers of the nation, even before Henry VII. had landed in England, and Dafydd Llwyd ab Llywelyn, whose works deserve to be much better known than they are at present. One of the best cywyddau among his works is the "Address to the Raven," to whom he promises a right royal feast when the hero whom all Wales is expecting has met his royal enemy. Tudur Aled, too, was a zealous partisan of Henry VII. and wrote many cywyddau in praise of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the great champion of Henry's cause in South Wales. He is also famous as having supplemented and made a new recension of Dafydd ab Edmwnd's rules of poetry in the eisteddfod held at Caerwys in 1524. Tudur Aled has always been more widely known in Wales than almost any other of the earlier poets except Dafydd ab Gwilym. This is perhaps due to the quotability and sententiousness of his couplets. There is a certain refreshing dryness about his poetry which partly makes up for his want of imagination. One of the most interesting poets of this century is Lewis Glyn Cothi, who lived between 1410 and 1490. During the Wars of the Roses he was a zealous Lancastrian, and his bitterest enemies were the men of Chester, who had treated him scurvily while he was there in hiding, and his _awdl_, satirizing the men of that city, is one of the most vigorous compositions in the language. Indeed, among so many _cywyddau_ of this period in conventional praise of different patrons, it is most refreshing to find such an outburst of sincere personal feeling, boldly and fiercely expressed. He wrote an _awdl_ also rejoicing in the victory of Henry VII. Most of his work, however, consists of _cywyddau mawl_--praise of patrons--containing weary and unpoetical pedigrees. Gruffydd Hiraethog, who flourished about 1540, was a disciple of Tudur Aled. A fierce poetical dispute raged between him and Sion Brwynog of Anglesey, who was a contemporary of his. About this time there were many poets in Wales who were imitators of Dafydd ab Gwilym, and who did not follow implicitly the lead of Dafydd ab Edmwnd, like those whom we have mentioned. Much of their poetry is feeble, but Bedo Brwynllysg especially stands out from among the rest, and his poetry, though highly imitative and often over fanciful, is of a much higher order than the genealogical poems of Lewis Glyn Cothi and others. In the same way the only poem of any merit of Ieuan Denlwyn printed in the _Gorchestion_ is written in this imitative strain. Other poets of the middle of this period are Deio ap Ieuan Du, Iorwerth Fynglwyd, Lewys Morganwg, Ieuan Brydydd Hir, and Tudur Penllyn, who wrote a superb _cywydd_ to Dafydd ab Siencyn, the outlaw.

Towards the end of the period we begin to breathe a literary atmosphere that is gradually but surely changing,--it is the change from the misty Wales of Roman Catholic times to the modern Wales after the Reformation. The poetical incoherencies of the old metres and the tricks of fancy of the old stylists occasionally form a somewhat incongruous dress for the thoughts of later poets. The old spirit and the glamour were gradually wearing away, only to be momentarily revived in the poetry of Goronwy Owen, nearly two centuries later. Two or three figures, indeed, stand out prominently during these years, among whom are some of the bards ordained _penceirddiaid_ (master-poets) in the second Caerwys Eisteddfod held in 1568, viz. William Llyn, William Cynwal, Sion Tudur, and Sion Phylip. William Llyn (1530?-1580) was a pupil of Gruffydd Hiraethog. His complicated _awdlau_ are marvels of ingenuity, but many of them are on that very account almost unintelligible. He was, however, a complete master of the _cywydd_, in which he sometimes displays a sense of style and a sweetness of imagery allied to a melodiousness of language unequalled by the other poets of the period. His best-known work is the famous _marwnad_ to his master, Gruffydd Hiraethog. Sion Tudur (d. 1602), also a disciple of G. Hiraethog, was connected in some capacity or other with the cathedral at St Asaph. He is a realist, and delights in giving vivid word pictures in a less fanciful strain than his predecessors. Sion Phylip (1543-1620) wrote a famous _marwnad_ to his father and a _cywydd_ "to a sea-gull," which is a superb piece of nature-painting in the style of Dafydd ab Gwilym. While dealing with this second Eisteddfod at Caerwys, we may note that Simwnt Fychan's "Laws of Poetry" were accepted at this festival.

Two poets of this period, whom an English writer describes as "the two filthy Welshmen who first smoked publicly in the streets," were captains in Queen Elizabeth's navy, viz. Thomas Prys (d. 1634) of Plas Iolyn, and William Myddleton (1556-1621), called in Welsh Gwilym Canoldref. The former wrote, among other things, humorous _cywyddau_ descriptive of life in London and in the English navy of those days, in a style which was afterwards attempted by Lewys Morys. The work of Myddleton, by which he is best known, is his translation of the Psalms (1603) into Welsh _cywydd_ metre, a difficult and profitless experiment.

With Edmwnd Prys (1541-1624), the famous archdeacon of Merioneth, we come to distinctly modern times. He is hardly a great poet, if we judge him by the canons which are now popular. His gift was a gift of terse and biting statement, and his _cywyddau_ on the whole have more of literary than of poetical merit. He was a man of vast learning, and his works are full of scholastic and often difficult allusions. His most famous _cywyddau_ are those written in the literary quarrel between him and Wiliam Cynwal. "Wiliam Cynwal," says Goronwy Owen, "though the greater poet, was like a man fighting with bare fists against complete armour," and it may be freely granted that in this, the most famous quarrel in Welsh literature, the palm of victory rested with the contentious old ecclesiastic. We shall deal with the rest of Edmwnd Prys's literary work in the section on the rise of popular poetry.

Here the age of the _cywydd_ and the _awdl_, as the chief forms of verse, ends. They appear again in the succeeding centuries, but as aliens among a nation that no longer paid them homage. The distinctly Welsh fashion in song was dying out.

6. _Prose, 1550-1750._--One of the most striking features of Welsh literature is the almost entire absence of prose between 1300 and 1550. The genius of the people has always been an eminently poetical and imaginative one, and the history of Wales, politically and socially, has always been a fitter subject for poetry than for prose. During this period, Wales enjoyed a rest from propagandists and revolutionaries which has seldom been the happy lot of any other nation--they lay content with their own old traditions, acquiescing proudly in their separation from the other nations of Europe, and in their aloofness from all the movements which shook England and the continent during those years. Dynasties came and went, one religion ousted another religion, a new learning exposed the absurdities of the old, but the Welsh, among their hills, knew nothing of it; and when new ideas began to brood over the consciousness of the nation, they never got beyond the stage of providing new subjects for _cywyddau_. The Peasant Revolt, for instance, had but little effect on Welsh history, its most important contribution to the heritage of the nation being Iolo Goch's superb "_Cywydd_ to the Labourer." Even the Reformation, which helped to change the whole fabric of English literature, had little effect on that of Wales, and the age of the _cywydd_ dragged out wearily its last years without experiencing the slightest quickening from the great movement which was remaking Europe. Hardly a prophet or reactionary raised his voice in defence or condemnation, and the Welsh went on serenely making and reading poetry. The two political movements in which Wales was really interested, the revolt of Glyndwr and the accession of Henry VII., paid their tribute to its poetry alone, and both enterprises had sufficient of romance in them to repel the historian and to capture the poet. Naturally, therefore, we have no prose in this period, because there was no cause strong enough to produce it. What prose the nation required they found in the tales of romance, in the legends of Arthur and Charlemagne and the Grail, and, as for pedigrees and history, were they not written in the _cywyddau_ of the poets?

The little prose that was produced during this period (1300-1550) was of an extraordinary kind. It was simply an exercise in long sentences and in curiously built compounds, and therefore more nearly allied to poetry. It generally took the form of _dewisbethau_, a list of the "choice things" of such and such a person, or of the later triads (_trioedd_), which, starting from an ancient nucleus, gradually grew till, at the present day, Wales has a gnomic literature out of all proportion to the rest of its prose. Modern Welsh prose, however, is only very indirectly connected with these compositions. It is almost altogether a product of the Biblical literature which began to appear after the Reformation, and we shall proceed to give here the main facts and dates in its development. The first Welsh book was printed in 1546. It consisted of extracts in Welsh from the Bible and the Prayer Book, and a calendar. The author was Sir John Prys (1502-1555). The most important name in the early part of this period is William Salesbury (1520?-1600?). His chief books were, _A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe_ (printed in 1547, and published in facsimile reprint by the Cymmrodorion Society), _Kynniver Llith a Ban_ (1551), the Prayer Book in Welsh (1567), and the most important of all his works, the translation of the New Testament (1567). It is difficult to form any estimate, at this distance of time, of the impetus which William Salesbury gave to Welsh prose, but it must be regretfully admitted that his great work was marred by many defects. He had a theory that Welsh ought to be written as much like Latin as possible, and the result is that his language is very poor Welsh, both in spelling and idiom; it is an artificial dialect. It is a striking testimony, however, to his influence that many of the constructions and words which he manufactured are found to this day in correct literary Welsh.

In 1567 was published a _Welsh Grammar_ by Dr Gruffydd Roberts, a Roman Catholic priest living at Milan (reprinted in facsimile, Paris, 1883), and in 1583, under the direction of Dr Rhosier Smyth, his _Drych Cristionogawl_ was published at Rouen. Many other important Welsh books were produced during these years, but the work which may be regarded as having the greatest influence on the subsequent literature of Wales was the translation of the _Welsh Bible_ (1588) by Dr William Morgan (1547?-1604), bishop of Llandaff, and afterwards of St Asaph. The Authorized Version (1620) now in use is a revision of this work by Dr Richard Parry, bishop of St Asaph (1560-1623). In 1592 the _Welsh Grammar_ of Sion Dafydd Rhys (1534-1609) was published--a most valuable treatise on the language and on the rules of Welsh poetry. It was followed in 1621 by the _Welsh Grammar_, and in 1632 by the _Welsh Dictionary_ of Dr John Davies o Fallwyd (1570?-1644).

There are two prose compositions which stand entirely by themselves in this period of Bibles and grammars--the _History_ of Ellis Gruffydd, and Morris Kyffin's _Deffyniad y Ffydd_. The former was a soldier in the English army during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and wrote a long history of England from the earliest times to his own day. This document, which has never been published, and which lies hidden away among the Mostyn MSS., is a most important and valuable original contribution to the history of the author's contemporaries, and it sheds considerable light on the inner life of the court and the army. It is written in a delightfully easy style, contrasting favourably with the stiff diction of this period of translations. The work of Morris Kyffin (1555?-1598?) which we have mentioned is a translation of Bishop Jewel's _Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae_ (1562) and was published in 1595. This work is the first piece of modern Welsh prose within reach of the ordinary reader, written in the rich idiom of the spoken Welsh. It is a precursor of many other books of its kind, a long series culminating in the immortal _Bardd Cwsc_. In this sense Morris Kyffin may with perfect justice be hailed as the father of modern Welsh prose.

Most of the works which were afterwards written in the strong idiomatic Welsh of Morris Kyffin were on religious subjects, and many of them were translated from the English. The first was _Ymarfer o Dduwioldeb_ (1630) by Rowland Vychan o Gaergai (a translation of Bailey's _Practice of Piety_), which was followed in 1632 by Dr John Davies's _Llyfr y Resolution_, and in 1666 by _Hanes y Ffydd Ddiffuant_ (A History of the True Faith) by Charles Edwards. All these authors and many of their successors were strong adherents of the Established Church, which was then intensely Welsh in sentiment. But in the midst of these churchmen, a flame-bearer of dissent appeared--Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, who published in 1653 "a mystery to be understood of some, and scorned of others"--_Llyfr y Tri Aderyn_ (The Book of the Three Birds). It is in the form of a discussion between the eagle (Cromwell), the dove (Dissent) and the raven (the Established Church). This book is certainly the most important original composition published during the 17th century, and to this day remains one of the widely-read classics of the Welsh tongue. Morgan Llwyd wrote many other books in Welsh and English, all more or less in the vein of the first book.

During the remaining years of this period, the prose output of the Welsh press consisted mainly of devotional books, written or translated for or at the instigation of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Established Church, with the help of this society, made a gallant attempt to lighten the darkness of Wales by publishing books of this description, and it is mainly due to its exertions that the lamp of Welsh prose was kept burning during these years. Among the clergy who produced books of this description were Edward Samuel (1674-1748), who published among other works _Holl Ddyledswydd Dyn_, a translation of _The Whole Duty of Man_ (1718); Moses Williams (1684-1742), a most diligent searcher into Welsh MSS. and translator; Griffith Jones of Llanddowror (1683-1761), the father of Welsh popular education; Iago ab Dewi (1644?-1722) and Theophilus Evans (1694-1769), the famous author of _Drych y Prif Oesoedd_ (1716 and 1740). This book, like _Llyfr y Tri Aderyn_ and _Y Bardd Cwsc_, has an established position for all time in the annals of Welsh literature.

We come now to the greatest of all Welsh prose writers, Ellis Wyn o Lasynys (1671-1734). His first work was a translation of Jeremy Taylor's _Holy Living_, under the title of _Rheol Buchedd Sanctaidd_ (1701). His next work was the immortal _Gweledigaethau y Bardd Cwsc_ (1703). The foundation of this work was L'Estrange's translation of the _Suenos_ of the Spaniard Quevedo. Ellis Wyn has certainly followed his original closely, even as Shakespeare followed his, but by his inimitable magic he has transmuted the characters and the scenery of the Spaniard into Welsh characters and scenery of the 17th century. No writer before or after him has used the Welsh language with such force and skill, and he will ever remain the stylist whom all Welsh writers will strive to imitate. The magic of his work has endowed the stately idiom of Gwynedd with such glamour that it has now become the standard idiom of Welsh prose. See Stern, _Z. f. celt. Phil._ iii. 165 ff.

7. _The Rise of Popular Poetry, 1600-1750._--When Henry VII. ascended the throne, the old hostility of the Welsh towards the English disappeared. They had realized their wildest hope, that of seeing a Welshman wearing "the crown of London." Naturally enough, therefore, the descendants of the old Welsh gentry began to look towards England for recognition and preferment, and their interest in their own little country necessarily began to wane. The result was that the traditional patrons of the Welsh muse could no longer understand the language of the poets, and the poets were forced to seek some more profitable employment. Besides, the old conditions were changing; the medieval traditions were indeed dying hard, but it gradually and imperceptibly came about that the poets of the older school had no audience. The only poets who still followed the old traditions were the rich farmers who "sang on their own land," as the Welsh phrase goes. A new school, however, was rising. The nation at large had a vast store of folk-poetry, full of all the poetical characteristics of the Celt, and it was this very poetry, despised as it was, that became ultimately the groundwork of the new literature.

The first landmark in this new development was the publication in 1621 of Edmwnd Prys's metrical version of the Psalms (followed by later editions in 1628, 1630, 1638 and 1648), and of the first poem of the _Welshmen's Candle_ (_Cannwyll y Cymry_) of Rhys Pritchard, vicar of Llandovery (1569-1644). This was published in 1646. These works were not written in the old metres peculiar to Wales, but in the free metres, like those of English poetry. The former work is of the utmost importance, as these Psalms were about the first metrical hymns in use. They are often rugged and uncouth, but many of the verses--such as the 23rd Psalm--have a haunting melody of their own, which grips the mind once and for ever. The second work, the first complete edition of which was published in 1672, consisted of moral verses in the metres of the old folk-songs (_Penillion Telyn_), and for nearly two centuries was the "guide, philosopher and friend" of the common people. Many other poets of the early part of this period wrote in these metres, such as Edward Dafydd o Fargam (fl. 1640), Rowland Fychan, Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd and William Phylip (d. 1669). Poetry in the free metres, however, was generally very crude, until it was given a new dignity by the greatest poet of the period, Huw Morus o Bont y Meibion (1622-1709). Most of his earlier compositions, which are among his best, and which were influenced to a great extent by the cavalier poetry of England, are love poems, perfect marvels of felicitous ingenuity and sweetness. He fixed the poetic canons of the free metres, and made what was before homely and uncouth, courtly and dignified. He wrote a _cywydd marwnad_ to his contemporary, Edward Morus o'r Perthi Llwydion (d. 1689), who was also a poet of considerable merit. Most of his work is composed of "moral pieces" and carols. Other poets of the period were Sion Dafydd Las (1650-1691), who was among the last of the family bards, and Dafydd Jones o Drefriw (fl. 1750). Towards the end of the period comes Lewys Morys (1700-1765). His poetry alone does not seem to warrant his fame, but he was the creator of a new period, the inspirer and the patron of Goronwy Owen. According to the lights of the 18th century, he was, like his brothers Richard and William, a scholar. His poetry, except a few well-known pieces, will never be popular, because it does not conform to modern canons of taste. His greatest merit is that he wrote the popular poetry then in vogue with a scholar's elegance.

8. _The Revival, 1750-1830._--The two leading figures in this period are Goronwy Owen (1722-1769) and William Williams, Pantycelyn (1717-1791). Goronwy Owen wrote all his poetry in the _cynghanedd_, and his work gave the old metres a new life. He raised them from the neglect into which they had fallen, and caused them to be, till this day, the vehicle of half the poetical thought of Wales. But he was in no way a representative of his age; he, like Milton, sang among a crowd of inferior poets themes quite detached from the life of his time, so that he also, like his English brother, lacks "human interest." After Dafydd ab Gwilym, he is the greatest poet who sang in the old metres, and the influence of his correct and fastidious muse remains to this day. William Williams, however, wrote in the free metres in a way that was astoundingly fresh. It is not enough to say of him that he was a hymnologist; he is much more, he is the national poet of Wales. He had certainly the loftiest imagination of all the poets of five centuries, and his influence on the Welsh people can be gauged by the fact that a good deal of his idiom and dialect has fixed itself indelibly on modern literary Welsh. Besides the hymns, he wrote a religious epic, _Theomemphus_, which is to this day the national epic of evangelical Wales. Even as Goronwy Owen is the father of modern Welsh poetry in the old metres, so William Williams is the great fountain-head of the free metres, because he set aflame the imagination of every poet that succeeded him. With two such pioneers, it is natural that the rest of this period should contain many great names. Thomas Edwards (Twm o'r Nant) (1739-1810) has been called by an unwarrantably bold hyperbole, "the Welsh Shakespeare." Most of his works are interludes and ballads, and he used to be very popular with the common people; he is, to this day, probably the oftenest quoted of all the Welsh poets. William Wynn, rector of Llangynhafal (1704-1760), is the author of a "_Cywydd_ of the Great Judgment," which bears comparison with Goronwy Owen's masterpiece. Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) (1731-1789) was famous both as a poet and as a scholar and antiquarian. Edward Rhisiart (1714-1777), the schoolmaster of Ystradmeurig, was a scholar and a writer of pastorals in the manner of Theocritus. Most of the other poets who flourished towards the end of this period--Dafydd Ddu Eryri (1760-1822), Gwallter Mechain (1761-1849), Robert ab Gwilym Ddu (1767-1850), Dafydd Ionawr (1751-1827), Dewi Wyn o Eifion (1784-1841)--were brought into prominence by the Eisteddfod, which began to increase in influence during this period until it has become to-day the national festival. They all wrote for the most part in _cynghanedd_, and the work of nearly all of them is marked by correctness rather than by poetical inspiration.

9. _Prose after 1830._--In the preceding periods, we have seen that Welsh prose, though abundant in quantity, had a very narrow range. Few writers rose above theological controversy or moral treatises, and the humaner side of literature was almost entirely neglected. In this period, however, we find a prose literature that, with the exception of scientific works, is as wide in its range as that of England, and all departments are well and competently represented, though by but few names. Dr Lewis Edwards (1809-1887) struck a new note when he began to contribute his literary and theological essays to the periodicals, but, though many have equalled and even surpassed him as theological essayists, few, if any, of his followers have attempted the literary and critical essays on which his fame as writer must mainly rest. Together with Gwilym Hiraethog (1802-1883), the author of the inimitable _Llythyrau Hen Ffarmwr_, he may be regarded as the pioneer of the new literature. Samuel Roberts (1800-1885), generally known as S.R., wrote numerous tracts and books on politics and economics, and as a political thinker he was in many respects far in advance of his English contemporaries. It was in this period, too, that Wales had her national novelist, Daniel Owen (1836-1895). He was a novelist of the Dickens school, and delighted like his great master "in writing mythology rather than fiction." He has created a new literary atmosphere, in which the characters of Puritanical and plebeian Wales move freely and without restraint. He can never be eclipsed just as Sir Walter Scott cannot be eclipsed, because the Wales which he describes is slowly passing away. He has many worthy disciples, among whom Miss Winnie Parry is easily first. Indeed, in her finer taste and greater firmness of touch, she stands on a higher plane than even her great master. The inspiring genius of the latter part of this period is Owen M. Edwards (b. 1858), and, as a stylist, all writers of Welsh prose since Ellis Wynn have to concede him the laurel. His little books of travel and history and anecdote have created, or rather, are creating a new school of writers, scrupulously and almost pedantically careful and correct, an ideal which, on its philological side is the outcome of the scientific study of the language as inaugurated by Sir John Rhys and Professor Morris Jones. One of the earliest, if not the ablest writer of this "new Welsh" was the independent and original Emrys ap Iwan (d. 1906), whose _Homiliau_ was published in 1907.

10. _Poetry after 1820._--The origins of this period are really placed in the last period. Its great characteristics are the development of the lyric, and the influence of English and continental ideas. Just as the _cywydd_ was among the older writers the favourite form of poetry, so the lyric becomes now paramount, almost to the exclusion of other forms. The first great name, after those already mentioned in the development of this form of poetry, is that of Anne Griffiths (1776-1805). Her poetry is exclusively composed of hymns, but to the English mind, the word "hymn" is entirely inadequate to give any idea of the passion, the mysticism and the rich symbolistic grace of her poems. She gave to the Welsh lyric the depth and the rather melancholy intensity which has always characterized it. Evan Evans (Ieuan Glan Geirionydd) (1795-1855) was also a hymnologist, but he wrote many secular lyrics and _awdlau_--among the former being the famous _Morfa Rhuddlan_. Ebenezer Thomas (Eben Fardd) (1802-1863) was a famous _Eisteddfodwr_; his best work is his _awdlau_, and no one will deny him the distinction of being the master poet of the _awdl_ in the 19th century. Gwilym Cawrdaf (1795-1848), also a writer of _awdlau_, has the gift of simple and direct expression, well exemplified in _Hiraeth Cymro am ei wlad_. Daniel Ddu (1792-1846) was a scholar who wrote some touching lyrics and hymns. Gwilym Hiraethog (1802-1883) attempted an epic, _Emmanuel_, with indifferent success. His shorter works and some of his _awdlau_ are of a much higher order. Caledfryn (1801-1869) was a direct successor of Dewi Wyn and the earlier writers of _awdlau_, but his _Drylliad y Rothsay Castle_ is superior to anything which his master wrote. Similar in genius, though not on quite as high a plane, were Nicander (1809-1874), Cynddelw (1812-1875), Gwalchmai (1803-1897) and Tudno (1844-1895).

John Blackwell (Alun) (1797-1840) was a lyricist of the first order. With Ieuan Glan Geirionydd, he is the pioneer of the secular lyric of the 19th century. Succeeding to this group of lyricists, we have another later group, Ceiriog (1832-1887), Talhaiarn (1810-1869) and Mynyddog (1833-1877), who certainly had the advantage over their predecessors in freshness, in vigour and in human interest, but they lacked the scholastic training of the earlier group, and so their work is often uneven, and cannot therefore be fairly compared with that of the earlier poets. Ceiriog, of course, is the greater name of the three, and is to Wales what Robert Burns was to Scotland, sharing with him his poetical faults and merits. He is called the national poet of Wales, because he was the first to sing of the land and the nation he knew, and he cast the glamour of his genius over the life of the _gwerin_, the peasants of Wales.

Somewhat higher flights were essayed by Gwilym Marles (1834-1879) and Islwyn (1832-1878). Their poetry is Wordsworthian and mystical, and well exemplifies the love of metaphysics and speculation which is growing in Wales. Islwyn's _Y storm_, though uneven, is full of powerful passages, and he was a master of blank verse. Of the remaining poets of the period living in 1908, the most distinguished was the Rev. Elvet Lewis in the older generation, and Eifion Wyn in the younger--both writers of lyrics. Other lyrical poets of the first class are Gwylfa and Silyn Roberts. In the old metres, two poets stand out prominent above all others--J. Morris Jones and T. Gwynn Jones. The _Awdl i Famon_ of the former, and the _Ymadawiad Arthur_ of the latter, gave reason to believe that Welsh poetry was only entering on its golden period.

AUTHORITIES.--_General_.--T. Stephens, _Literature of the Kymry_
(London[2], 1876); L.C. Stern in _Die Kultur d. Gegenwart_, i. xi. 1
pp. 114-130; Gweirydd ap Rhys. _Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymreig, 1300-1650_
(London, 1885); C. Ashton, _Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymreig, 1651-1850_
(Liverpool, 1893); J. Loth, _Les Mabinogion_ (2 vols., Paris, 1889);
E. Anwyl, _Prolegomena to Welsh Poetry_ (London, 1905), also on the
Mabinogi in _Zeitschr. f. celt. Phil._ i. 277 ff.; I.B. John, _The
Mabinogion_ (London, 1901); T. Shankland, _Diwygwyr Cymru_, reprinted
from _Seren Gomer_ (1899); W.J. Gruffydd, _Foreign Influences on Welsh
Literature in the XIV. and XV. Centuries_, Guild of Welsh Graduates
(1908); Gwilym Lleyn, _Llyfryddiaeth y Cymry_ (Llanidloes, 1867);
Robert Williams, _Enwogion Cymru_ (Llandovery, 1852); Owen Jones,
_Cymru_ (2 vols., London, 1875); D.W. Nash, _History of the Battle of
Cattraeth_ (Tenby, 1861); _Encyclopaedia Cambrensis_ (10 vols.,[2]
1889-1896); C. Ashton, _Bywyd ac amserau yr Esgob Morgan_ (Treherbert,
1891); J. Foulkes, _J. Ceiriog Hughes, ei fywyd a'i waith_ (Liverpool,
1887); J.M. Jones, _Llenyddiaeth fy ngwlad_ (Holywell, 1893); H. Elvet
Lewis, _Sweet Singers of Wales_ (London, 1889); H.W. Lloyd, _Welsh
Books Printed Abroad in the XVI. and XVII. Centuries_ (London, 1881).

_Anthologies, Selected Prose and Verse, &c._--W.F. Skene, _The Four
Ancient Books of Wales_ (2 vols., Edinburgh, 1868); W. Owen (Pughe),
Iolo Morganwg and Owen Jones (Myfyr), _Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales_
(3 vols., London, 1801;[2] Denbigh, 1870, in 1 vol.); Dr John Davies
(o Fallwyd), _Flores Poetarum Britannicorum_ (Shrewsbury, 1710;
Swansea, 1814; reprinted London, 1864); Iolo Morganwg, _Iolo
Manuscripts_ (Llandovery, 1848); E. Evans, _Some Specimens of the
Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards translated into English, &c._
(London, 1764); Hugh Jones, _Dewisol Ganiadau yr Oes Hon_ (Shrewsbury,
1759;[5] Merthyr, 1827), _Diddanwch Teuluaidd_ (London, 1763); David
Jones, _Blodeugerdd Cymry_ (Shrewsbury[2], 1779); Owen Jones, _Ceinion
Llenyddiaeth Gymreig_ (2 vols., London, 1876); W. Lewis Jones,
_Caniadau Cymru_ (Bangor[2], 1908); W. Jenkyn Thomas, _Penillion
Telyn_ (Carnarvon, 1894); Myrddin Fardd, _Cynfeirdd Lleyn_ (1905);
_Cyfres Lien Cymru_, vols. i.-vi. (Cardiff, 1900-1906); W.J. Gruffydd,
_Y Flodeugerdd Newydd_ (Cardiff, 1908); O.M. Edwards, _Beirdd y
Berwyn_ (Conway, 1903).

_Versification, &c_,--Dafydd Morganwg, _Yr Ysgol Farddol_ (Cardiff[3],
1887); Iolo Morganwg, _Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain_ (Merthyr,
1829;[2] Carnarvon, 1874); _Simwnt Vychan and Dafydd Ddu Athraw,
Dosparth Edeyrn Davod Aur_, ed. by J. Williams ab Ithel (Llandovery,
1856); J. Morris Jones, "Welsh Versification," _Zeitschr.f. celt.
Phil._ iv. pp. 106-142.

_Collected Works, Editions and Reprints_,--J. Gwenogvryn Evans and
John Rhys, _Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest_ (2 vols. Oxford, 1887-1890),
_Pedeir Kainc y Mabinogi_ (Oxford, 1897); J. Gwenogvryn Evans, _The
Black Book of Carmarthen_ (Oxford, 1907; also in facsimile, Oxford,
1888), _Llyvyr Job trans. by Dr Morgan, 1558_ (reprinted 1888), _Oll
Synwyr pen_ [Salesbury] (Bangor, 1902); J. Morris Jones and John Rhys,
_Llyvyr Agkyr Llandewivrevi_ (Oxford, 1894); Aneurin Owen, _Ancient
Laws and Institutes of Wales_ (2 vols., London, 1841), _Brut y
Tywysogion_ (London, 1863); J. Williams ab Ithel, _Gododin with Notes
and Translation_ (Llandovery, 1852); T. Stephens, _Gododin with Notes
and Translation_, ed. by T. Powel (London, 1888); R. Williams,
_Selections from the Hengwrt MSS._ (2 vols., London, 1876-1892); T.
Powel, _Ystorya de Carolo Magno_ (London, 1883); _Psalmau Dafydd
trans. by W. Morgan_ (facsimile, 1896); Owen Jones (Myfyr) and W. Owen
(Pughe), _Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym_ (London, 1789); Walter Davies
and J. Jones, _Poetical Works of Lewis Glyn Cothi_ (1837); Prince
Louis Bonaparte, _Athrawaeth Gristnogavl by Morys Clynoc_ (facsimile
London, 1880); Walter Davies, _Caniadau Huw Morus_ (2 vols., 1823);
_Psalmau Dafydd gan W. Middleton_ (Llanfair, 1827); J. Morris Jones,
_Gweledugaethai y Bardd cwsg gan Elis Wynne_ (Bangor, 1898); R. Jones,
_The Poetical Works of Goronwy Owen_ (2 vols. London, 1876); W.J.
Gruffydd, _Cywyddau Goronwy Owen_ (Newport, 1906); T.E. Ellis,
_Gweithiau Morgan Llwyd_ (Bangor, 1899); J.H. Davies, _Yn y Llyvyr
hwn_ (Bangor, 1902); S.J. Evans, _Drych y Prif Oesoedd gan Th. Evans_
(Bangor, 1902); W.P. Williams, _Deffyniad Ffydd Eglwys Loegr gan Morys
Kyffin_ (Bangor, 1908); N. Cynhafal Jones, _Gweithiau W. Williams
Pantycelyn_ (2 vols., 1887-1891); O.M. Edwards, _Gweithiau Islwyn_
(1897). (W. J. G.)