Dwi'n cofio cysgu wrth yr afon
Yng nghanol lwyn o fedw gleision
Dwi'n gwybod am y ffordd i lawr
A'r mynydd mawr yn llawn sibridion
A dwi braidd yn drist
Mi fûm ar daith ar lun aderyn
Do , lawer gwaith ar lun aderyn
Mi fûm yn hel y sêr i sach
A'r porchell bach yn dod i'w mofyn
A dwi braidd yn drist
Dwi'n cofio cysgu wrth yr afon
Yng nghanol llwyn o fedw gleision
Ond yn y chwedl hon o wlad
Ti'n gorfod siarad mewn damhegion
A dwi braidd yn drist
That echoes very well the spirit behind the Twm Morys/ Jan Morris book up there ... " A Machynlleth Trilogy". I've written about it before, 2nd June this year, but rather obliquely, under the title " The longest list in Welsh literature ?"
It does indeed contain a very long list.... almost of Olympic standard, one might say.
Well, it's bilingual for a start, Welsh and English . But ... but ...it's also an opportunity lost, because surely it should have been printed with Welsh and English on facing pages .... but as it stands, you get the English version in the first half of the book, and the Welsh version in the second half . A true facing-page edition would be a terrific help to Welsh learners. Other languages are awash* with facing-page dual-language books ... but not Welsh. Bereft is a better word.... when "awash" is what we would like.
You know, sometimes I get the slight, almost subliminal feeling that some people don't actually want "us" to learn Welsh.
But of course, that isn't the case. Silly me !
Anyway, the three "accounts" in the book are a sequence, all based around Machynlleth. ... the first one is the Wales that is in the past, the second one is in the present, and the last one is in the future. There has been great praise for the book, and criticism as well, but I loved it. It's difficult to describe it without slipping into cliché mode, so I'll avoid that by saying it's a bit of an emotional roller-coaster .. I doubt if that's been used before. Get it ...read it ... cut it up and rearrange it as a facing-page blockbuster. When you've exhausted its possibilities, send it to the publisher as a subtle reminder of how it should have been. Sorted.
Now here's Llwybr Llaethog with Pob Dim ...
awash ..... llawn, cyforiog
sometimes the father is the son