Again
Lle bo dyfnaf yr afon,Ar fy hynt yr af i hon,Oni roi, Gwen eurog wedd,Drwy gariad ryw drugaredd.
Eurog wedd is no great compliment to a fair woman; for Gwen, aFlavia, loves to be called white; and the last line hath gar--gar,therefore I would write thus, or the like:
Oni roi, Gwen ir ei gwedd,Yn gywrain, ryw drugaredd.
Af i graig fwyaf o gredY mor, i gael ymwared,Ag o'r graig fawr i'r eigionDygaf gyrch i dyrch y don--
Ag o'r don egr hyd annwfnAf ar y dafl i for dwfn.
Lle mae'r morfil friwfil fron,A'r enwog forforwynian,
A fynno Gwen ysplennyddYn ddiau o'm rhwymau 'n rhydd,Ni chaf gur, ni chaf garuNa phoen gwn, na hoffi 'n gu;Ni roddaf gam i dramwy,I gred i'th ymweled mwy:Dyna'r modd dan wir i mi,A dyr unwaith drueni.
The expression Dan wir, is too local, and is not understood all overWales. Local expressions must be avoided as much as possible. Supposeyou said then,
Oni chaf heb warafunDy fodd fyth difeiwedd fun.
Yours sincerely,
Your letter of the second instant, I received this day; and I was veryglad to hear that you had procured leave to go to the private library inJesus College. It is charming to get into conversation with LlywarchHen, Aneurin, Merddin, &c. They are most pleasing old companions.
I am,Yours sincerely,
I am,Your assured friend,And servant,
Your most humble Servant,
Have you, among Taliesin's works, Ymddyddan rhwng Ugnach ab Mydno oGaerleon a Thaliesin o Gaerdyganwy? If you have it not, I will send ityou. It is from the Llyfr Du o Gaerfyrddin.
My chief business of late has been to put the names of men and places inan alphabetical order, and to prepare them for my Celtic remains, fromTaliesin's works, Sir J. Pryse's Cambria, the Triades, the Gododin,Beddau Milwyr, Aera Cambr. Brit. L. G. Cothi, and extent of Anglesea.
Tymor tymhestylTymhestyl dymorY beri rhestr rhac rhiallu.
I am,Yours sincerely,
Thomas Williams, and the Anglesea Man, as well as Thomas Wynne, andThomas ab Llewelyn, &c., and have stumbled in the reading of it, as nowplainly appears to me; and what, if I tell you, that you and I also haveslipped in one place: I am sure we have.
I am yours sincerely,
Set me right in these things; for I am at an entire loss about them.This is all I have leisure to write at present, and should be glad tohear from you--who am,
Yours sincerely,
I am yours sincerely,
Words in this poem
- wedd n.
- A pledge; a pawn. Gower. Piers Plowman. [AS. wedd; akin to OFries. wed, OD. wedde, OHG, wetti, G. wette a wager, Icel. veedh a pledge, Sw. vad a wager, an appeal, Goth. wadi a pledge, Lith. vaduti to r]
- gael n.
- A Celt or the Celts of the Scotch Highlands or of Ireland; now esp., a Scotch Highlander of Celtic origin. [See Gaelic.]
- sincerely adv.
- In a sincere manner. Specifically: (a) Purely; without alloy.
- cambria n.
- The ancient Latin name of Wales. It is used by modern poets.
- wynne n.
- One of the runes adopted into the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, alphabet. It had the value of modern English w, and was replaced from about a. d. 1280 at first by uu, later by w.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Again is in the public domain. This text is taken from Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards, Project Gutenberg ebook #32767; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Evan Evans, Again, in Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards (1764), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32767, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/evans-welsh/again.html, id L11887.
Form and metre
Again is 63 lines in 23 stanzas. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AA afon · hon · weddA · drugareddA
- 3 AA gweddA · drugareddA
- 4 AA-- gredA · ymwaredA · eigion · don
- 7 AA------ ysplennyddA · rhyddA · garu · gu · dramwy · mwy · mi · drueni
- 9 AA warafunA · funA
- 19 --AA and · now · haveA · haveA
- 21 A-A themA · to · amA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lle bo dyfnaf yr afon, | 7 | ······· |
| Ar fy hynt yr af i hon, | 7 | ······· |
| Oni roi, Gwen eurog wedd, | 7 | ······· |
| Drwy gariad ryw drugaredd. | 7 | ······· |
| Eurog wedd is no great compliment to a fair woman; for Gwen, a | 17 | ······/˘˘···/˘··· |
| Flavia, loves to be called white; and the last line hath gar--gar, | 15 | /˘˘············ |
| therefore I would write thus, or the like: | 9 | ········· |
| Oni roi, Gwen ir ei gwedd, | 7 | ······· |
| Yn gywrain, ryw drugaredd. | 7 | ······· |
| Af i graig fwyaf o gred | 6 | ······ |
| Y mor, i gael ymwared, | 6 | ······ |
| Ag o'r graig fawr i'r eigion | 7 | ······· |
| Dygaf gyrch i dyrch y don-- | 7 | ······· |
| Ag o'r don egr hyd annwfn | 6 | ······ |
| Af ar y dafl i for dwfn. | 7 | ······· |
| Lle mae'r morfil friwfil fron, | 7 | ······· |
| A'r enwog forforwynian, | 7 | ······· |
| A fynno Gwen ysplennydd | 7 | ······· |
| Yn ddiau o'm rhwymau 'n rhydd, | 7 | ······· |
| Ni chaf gur, ni chaf garu | 7 | ······· |
| Na phoen gwn, na hoffi 'n gu; | 8 | ········ |
| Ni roddaf gam i dramwy, | 7 | ······· |
| I gred i'th ymweled mwy: | 6 | ······ |
| Dyna'r modd dan wir i mi, | 7 | ······· |
| A dyr unwaith drueni. | 6 | ······ |
| The expression Dan wir, is too local, and is not understood all over | 19 | ·˘/˘····/˘····˘/··· |
| Wales. Local expressions must be avoided as much as possible. Suppose | 19 | ·/˘˘/˘··˘/˘···/˘˘˘/ |
| you said then, | 3 | ··· |
| Oni chaf heb warafun | 7 | ······· |
| Dy fodd fyth difeiwedd fun. | 7 | ······· |
| Yours sincerely, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Your letter of the second instant, I received this day; and I was very | 19 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·˘/·····/˘ |
| glad to hear that you had procured leave to go to the private library in | 19 | ······˘/·····/˘/·˘· |
| Jesus College. It is charming to get into conversation with Llywarch | 19 | /˘/˘··/˘·····˘/˘··· |
| Hen, Aneurin, Merddin, &c. They are most pleasing old companions. | 16 | ··········/˘·˘/˘ |
| I am, | 2 | ·· |
| Yours sincerely, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| I am, | 2 | ·· |
| Your assured friend, | 4 | ·˘/· |
| And servant, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Your most humble Servant, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Have you, among Taliesin's works, Ymddyddan rhwng Ugnach ab Mydno o | 18 | ·················· |
| Gaerleon a Thaliesin o Gaerdyganwy? If you have it not, I will send it | 20 | ···················· |
| you. It is from the Llyfr Du o Gaerfyrddin. | 11 | ··········· |
| My chief business of late has been to put the names of men and places in | 18 | ··/˘···········/˘· |
| an alphabetical order, and to prepare them for my Celtic remains, from | 20 | ··˘/˘˘/˘··˘/···/˘˘/· |
| Taliesin's works, Sir J. Pryse's Cambria, the Triades, the Gododin, | 18 | ········/˘˘·/····· |
| Beddau Milwyr, Aera Cambr. Brit. L. G. Cothi, and extent of Anglesea. | 19 | ·············˘/···· |
| Tymor tymhestyl | 5 | ····· |
| Tymhestyl dymor | 5 | ····· |
| Y beri rhestr rhac rhiallu. | 7 | ······· |
| I am, | 2 | ·· |
| Yours sincerely, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Thomas Williams, and the Anglesea Man, as well as Thomas Wynne, and | 17 | /˘/˘·········/˘·· |
| Thomas ab Llewelyn, &c., and have stumbled in the reading of it, as now | 19 | /˘·/˘˘···/˘··/˘···· |
| plainly appears to me; and what, if I tell you, that you and I also have | 19 | /˘˘/············/˘· |
| slipped in one place: I am sure we have. | 9 | ········· |
| I am yours sincerely, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Set me right in these things; for I am at an entire loss about them. | 18 | ···········˘/˘···· |
| This is all I have leisure to write at present, and should be glad to | 17 | ·····/˘···/˘····· |
| hear from you--who am, | 5 | ····· |
| Yours sincerely, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| I am yours sincerely, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.