Englyn (pronounced[ˈɛŋ.lɪn]; pluralenglynion) is a traditionalWelsh shortpoem form. It usesquantitative metres, involving the counting ofsyllables, and rigid patterns ofrhyme andhalf rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known ascynghanedd.
Theenglyn is found in the work of the earliest attested Welsh poets (thecynfeirdd), where the main types are the three-lineenglyn milwr andenglyn penfyr.[1] It is the only set stanzaic metre found in the early Welsh poetic corpus, and explanations for its origins have tended to focus on stanzaic Latin poetry and hymns; however, it is as likely to be a development within the Brittonic poetic tradition.[2] Whereas the metrical rules of laterenglynion are clear (and are based on counting syllables), the precise metre of the earlyenglynion is debated and could have involved stress-counting.[3] The earliestenglynion are found asmarginalia written in a tenth-century hand in theJuvencus Manuscript.[4] Many earlyenglynion form poems which seem to represent moments of characters' emotional reflection in stories now lost:Canu Llywarch Hen,Canu Urien,Canu Heledd. Others survey heroic tradition, for example theEnglynion y Beddau orGeraint son of Erbin, and others again are lyric, religious meditations and laments such as the famousClaf Abercuawg andKyntaw geir.
There are a number of types ofenglynion. Details of their structures are as follows; not all of these, however, are included in theTraditional Welsh poetic metres.
Also known as "the short-endedenglyn". It consists of a stanza of three lines. The first line has ten syllables (in two groups of five), the second has five to six; and the third has seven. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other two lines. The fourth syllable of the second line may echo the final syllable of the first through either rhyme orconsonance.
Oer gwly pysgawd yng nghysgawd iäen;
Cul hydd, cawn barfawd;
Byr diwedydd, gwŷdd gwyrawd.[5]: 17
The "straight one-rhymedenglyn", identical toenglyn penfyr except that it adds a fourth, rhyming, seven-syllable line at the end. Thus it consists of four lines of ten, six, seven and seven syllables. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other three lines. The part of the first line after the rhyme alliterates with the first part of the second line.
This is anenglyn unodl union by Alan Llwyd:
Ym Mhorth oer y Merthyron – y merthyr
Mwya'i werth o ddigon
A hir-fawrha y fro hon
Wr dewr o Aberdaron
The "soldier'senglyn". This consists of three seven-syllable lines. All three lines rhyme.
Otid eiry, gwyn y cnes;
Nid â cedwyr i'w neges;
Oer llynnau, eu lliw heb des.[5]: 17
The "evenenglyn", more common in the Middle Ages than later. This consists of four seven-syllable lines. All four lines rhyme. One example (showing the half-rhyme of-edd with-er) is:
Cyntefin ceinaf amser,
Dydar adar, glas calledd,
Ereidr yn rhych, ych yng ngwedd,
Gwyrdd môr, brithotor tiredd.[5]: 16
The "short crookedenglyn". This is likeenglyn penfyr, but orders the lines differently: seven syllables in the first, ten syllables (in two groups of five) in the second, and five to six syllables in the third. In the following example, the second line does not participate in the rhyme:
Ton tra thon toid tu tir;
Goruchel gwaeddau rhag bron bannau bre;
Braidd allan orsefir.[5]: 17
The "crooked one-rhymeenglyn". Thisenglyn is likeenglyn byr crwca, except that it adds an extra seven-syllable line at the beginning. This is made up of four lines of seven, seven, ten and six syllables. The last syllables of the first, second and last lines and the seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the third line all rhyme.
The "seekingenglyn". This form has four lines of seven syllables each. The final syllables of the first, second, and last line rhyme. The final syllable of the third line rhymes with the second, third or fourth syllable of the last line:
Caradawg fab Cedifor,
Gwalch byddin gwerin goror,
Hebawg teulu cu ceinmyn,
Anawdd gennyn dy hepgor.[5]: 30
In thisenglyn, there are four seven-syllable lines that half-rhyme with each other (half-rhyme means that the final consonants agree).
Adeiliwyd bedd, gwedd gwiwder,
F'enaid, i'th gylch o fynor:
Adeiliawdd cof dy alar
I'm calon ddilon ddolur.[5]: 50
This is identical to theenglyn proest dalgron except that the half rhymes must use theae,oe,wy, andeidiphthongs.
The "chain half-rhymeenglyn". In this version there are four lines of seven syllables. The first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth half rhyme on the same vowel sound as the full rhyme syllables.
The "reciprocal half-rhymeenglyn". This has four lines of seven syllables. All four lines half-rhyme, and there is additionalcynghanedd.
This is a hybrid between anenglyn and atoddaid. The first two lines are as for anenglyn, and there follow two more lines of ten syllables each.
After the first two lines there is just one more line of three syllables or fewer, which follows the rhyme of the first two lines.
Here are twoenglynion by the 12th-century Welsh poetCynddelw Brydydd Mawr:
Balch ei fugunawr ban nafawr ei lef
Pan ganer cyrn cydawr;
Corn Llywelyn llyw lluydfawr
Bon ehang blaen hang bloed fawr.
Corn wedi llad corn llawen
Corn llugynor Llywelyn
Corn gwyd gwydr ai can
Corn rueinell yn ol gellgwn
The poetRobert Graves wrote anenglyn in English, included in the Juvinalia (1910–1914) of hisComplete Poems
A Pot of White Heather
Thou, a poor woman's fairing, white heather,
Witherest from the ending
Of summer's bliss to the sting
Of winter's grey beginning.
Here is an English-languageenglyn by novelistRobertson Davies.
The Old Journalist
He types his laboured column—weary drudge!
Senile, fudge and solemn;
Spare, editor, to condemn
These dry leaves of his autumn.
Grace in the form of anenglyn (withcynghanedd shown) in a poem by W. D. Williams:[6]
O, Dad, yn deulu dedwydd – y deuwn [Dad anddedwydd,d<accent>d repeated]
 diolch o newydd, [deuwn anddiolch,d<accent> repeated]
Cans o'th law y daw bob dydd [law anddaw rhyming,daw anddydd,d<accent> repeated,cynghanedd sain]
Ein lluniaeth a'n llawenydd. [ein lluniaeth anda'n llawenydd,ll<accent>n repeated]
O, Father, as a happy family – we come
With thanks anew,
For from your hand comes every day
Our sustenance and our joy.
Breton poetPadrig an Habask also writesBreton-languageenglynion; in 2020, he has published a collection of them calledLampreiz. (http://brezhoneg.org/en/node/11057)
