Specimens of Ancient Welsh Poetry
When the dawn arose, the shout was given; the enemy gave an ominouspresage; our men were stained with blood, after a hard contest; and theborders of Maelor Drefred were beheld with wonder and astonishment.Strangers have I driven away undaunted from the field with bloody arms.He that provokes the brave man, ought to dread his resentment.
Words in this poem
- astonishment n.
- The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
- undaunted a.
- Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Specimens of Ancient Welsh Poetry 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, Specimens of Ancient Welsh Poetry, in Specimens of the Poetry of the Ancient Welsh Bards (1764), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32767, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/evans-welsh/specimens-of-ancient-welsh-poetry.html, id L11871.
Form and metre
Specimens of Ancient Welsh Poetry is 5 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 17.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the dawn arose, the shout was given; the enemy gave an ominous | 19 | ···˘/···/˘·/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| presage; our men were stained with blood, after a hard contest; and the | 17 | /˘/˘·········/˘·· |
| borders of Maelor Drefred were beheld with wonder and astonishment. | 17 | /˘·····˘/·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Strangers have I driven away undaunted from the field with bloody arms. | 18 | /˘··/˘˘/˘/˘····/˘· |
| He that provokes the brave man, ought to dread his resentment. | 14 | ··˘/·······˘/˘ |
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.