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St David's Day Poem

By Ifor ap Glyn, the National Poet of Wales

Ifor ap Glyn, the National Poet of Wales, has written a poem specially for Front Row to mark St David's Day, 1 March.

Cymraeg Ambarel (Umbrella Welsh) is a celebration of the Welsh language.

Cymraeg Ambarel

Mae’n bwrw mor aml
mewn byd drycinog,
ond mae dy ffyn bob tro yn cloi’n
gromen berffaith, uwch fy mhen;
a than dy adain, caf hedfan yn unfraich,
drwy ddychymyg yr hil.

I rai, rwyt ti’n ‘cau’n deg ag agor,
ond o’th rolio’n dynn,
mi roddi sbonc
i’n cerddediad fel Cymry;
ac mi’th godwn yn lluman main
i dywys ymwelwyr at ein hanes,
a thua’r byd amgen sydd yno i bawb...

Tydi yw’r ambarel
sydd o hyd yn ein cyfannu,
boed yn ‘gored, neu ynghau
– dim ond i ni dy rannu....

Ifor ap Glyn
Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru
Umbrella Welsh

It rains so often
in our stormy world,
but your spokes always lock
in a hemisphere above my head;
and I can float through our people’s wit,
hanging by one arm beneath your wing.

For some, you simply can’t be opened,
but rolling you tight
lends a Welsh spring
to our step;
and we lift you, like a narrow flag,
to guide visitors to our history,
to an alternate reality, that’s open to all...

You are that brolly,
that melds our world,
as long as you’re jointly held,
- whether open or furled...

Release date:

Duration:

38 seconds

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