Barrenness by T.H. Parry-Williams

A. Z. Foreman

Barrenness

It was a treeless world of weather-swept
wilds in Snowdonia around my birth,
bare as if giants had forever kept
smoothing out every slanting slope of earth;
and as I grew up, through boyhood's amazing
years in our upland home among my own,
those mountains' primal forms would press in, bracing
me till their barrenness became my bone.
And should something of me survive my end
without completely vanishing away
and be discovered by some heart-matched friend
by chance near Snowdon in the dusky day,
he'll see in it no image, no design,
just long-drawn barrenness' bleak outline.

Moelni

Nid oedd ond llymder anial byd di-goed
O gylch fy ngeni yn Eryri draw,
Fel petai’r cewri wedi bod erioed
Yn hir lyfnhau’r llechweddau ar bob llaw;
A thros fy magu, drwy flynyddoedd syn
Bachgendod yn ein cartref uchel ni,
Ymwasgai henffurf y mynyddoedd hyn,
Nes mynd o’u moelni i mewn i’m hanfod i.
Ac os bydd peth o’m defnydd yn y byd
Ar ôl yn rhywle heb ddiflannu’n llwyr,
A’i gael gan gyfaill o gyffelyb fryd
Ar siawns wrth odre’r Wyddfa ’mrig yr hwyr,
Ni welir arno lun na chynllun chwaith,
Dim ond amlinell lom y moelni maith


T. H. Parry Williams (1887–1975) was a renowned Welsh poet, scholar, and literary critic. Born in Wales, he became a prominent figure in Welsh literature, contributing significantly to the development of modern Welsh poetry. A key member of the Welsh literary renaissance, Parry Williams's works often explored themes of identity, landscape, and Welsh culture.

A. Z. Foreman

A. Z. Foreman is a linguist currently pursuing a doctorate at the Ohio State University. His work (including original poetry and short stories, as well as translations from Arabic, Spanish, French, Persian, Chinese, Latin, Hebrew, Dutch, Occitan, Ukrainian, Russian, Old English, Welsh, Irish, Yiddish, Ugaritic and Esperanto) has been featured in the Threepenny Review, ANMLY, Rattle, the Los Angeles Review and elsewhere including two people's tattoos but not yet the Starfleet Academy Quarterly or Tattooine Monthly. He wants to pet your dog.

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