Cynghanedd

Template:Short description In Welsh-language poetry, cynghanedd (, literally "concinnity" or "harmony") is the concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the , and . developed gradually over the period 1100–1350; by the middle of the 14th century it had developed into a fixed system. Though of ancient origin, and variations of it are still used today by many Welsh-language poets. A number of poets have experimented with using in English-language verse, for instance Gerard Manley Hopkins. Some of Dylan Thomas's work is also influenced by .

Forms of cynghanedd

Different forms of are used in different metres. The forms described in this article apply especially to the commonly used seven-syllable metre, popularised by Dafydd ap Gwilym in the 14th century. In a poem, every line must have some form of , but the poet is free to use the different types in random order.

Because the noun is feminine, the adjectives and are mutated to and . Note that ⟨dd⟩, ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ are digraphs in the Welsh alphabet, each representing a single consonant /ð/, /ɬ/ and /χ/ respectively.

Cynghanedd groes ("cross-harmony")

In all the consonants in the first half of the line are repeated in the second half in the same order. The same consonants which immediately precede and immediately follow the main stressed vowel in the first half must do the same in the second half. However, the word-final consonants of each half of the line must be different, as must the main stressed vowel of each half.

There are three main different types, called , and respectively:

Type 1 The simplest kind of is a line where both halves of the line end in a stressed monosyllable. In this kind the consonants are repeated only up as far as the stressed vowel, but not after it. The line may be divided 3 syllables + 4, or 4 syllables + 3. Both the examples below are taken from Dafydd ap Gwilym (14th century):

Agwrdd drwst / a gerdda draw ["A mighty commotion which passes yonder"]

Lawlaw â mi / lili mor ["Nearby me, lily of the sea"]

Type 2 In a second type, both halves of the line end in a polysyllable. Here the consonants immediately following the stressed vowel are repeated, but not the consonants at the end of each half. Again, the line may be divided 3 + 4, or 4 + 3:

Hwylbrenwyllt / heli bronwyn ["The wild-masted, white-breasted sea"]

Llywiwr iawngamp / llariangerdd ["Excellent ruler of gentle verse"]

However, this type with a polysyllabic stressed word in each half is rare.

Type 3 In the third type of the first half-line ends in a monosyllable, and the second half in a polysyllable. (The reverse, namely polysyllable + monosyllable, is not found in .) Here the division must be 3 syllables + 4. Any consonants immediately following the stressed vowel are repeated in both halves. An example is this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym from his poem The Seagull, which repeats the seven consonants {D R N F L H [stress] L}:

Darn fal haul / dyrnfol heli ["Like a piece of sun, a gauntlet of sea"]

In there are generally no consonants in the second half of the line which are not part of the consonantal echoing; but there are exceptions, especially in the case of ⟨n⟩ at the beginning of the half and, as mentioned above, a line-final consonant. The consonants ⟨h, w, y⟩ can also optionally be ignored. Vowels other than those under the main stresses may be of any kind.

Sometimes a consonant which comes twice in succession in one half of the line corresponds to a single consonant in the other half, as in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym, where the two ⟨r⟩s in the first half correspond to a single ⟨r⟩ in the second half, creating the pattern {G R(R) S [stress]}:

Gŵr eres wyd / garw ei sain ["You are a strange man, with a harsh voice"]

In the following, by Siôn Phylip (16th century), two ⟨r⟩s in the second half correspond to one in the first, creating the pattern {C R(R) D [stress] Ch}:

Crïwyd u'wch / caer Rhydychen ["There was weeping above the wall of Oxford"]

Lines such as the following, by Lewys Glyn Cothi (15th century), are considered less correct since although the same consonants are used in both halves, they are arranged differently around the stressed vowels:

Mair o awgrym / yw Marg'red ["Margaret's name suggests Mary"]

Sometimes a consonant (or consonants) in the first half of a line can be reused to complete the consonant pattern in the second half, as in the following line by R. Williams Parry, where the ⟨m⟩ of is used twice to create the pattern {M L S M [stress]}:

Melys i mi / lais y mor ["Sweet to me is the voice of the sea"]

This type is known as . Another example is the following from Dafydd ap Gwilym's Seagull (although it also may be accounted for by the rule that an initial ⟨n⟩ may be ignored):

Na Thaliesin / ei thlysach ["Nor did Taliesin (ever love) one more fair"]

In the pronunciation takes precedence over the spelling. Thus ⟨b+h⟩ or ⟨b+h⟩ correspond to {P}, ⟨d+h⟩ or ⟨d+d⟩ correspond to {T} and so on, for example in this line of Lewis Glyn Cothi (16th century), where ⟨d+d⟩ corresponds to {T}:

Achau y tad, / o chaid dydd ["The ancestry of the father, if one had a day (to hear it)"]

Similarly, in early poetry, "and" and "nor" were always pronounced with /g/, as in this line from Dafydd ap Gwilym:

Nac unnos / o Forgannwg ["Nor (will I go) a single night from Glamorgan"]

Cynghanedd draws (partial "cross-harmony")

(literally, "traversing ") resembles , except that there are consonants at the beginning of the second half of the line which are not present in the series of 'echoed' consonants. Cynghanedd draws appears in this line from R. Williams Parry:

Rhowch wedd wen / dan orchudd iâ ["Place a white face under a veil of ice"]

Here the consonant sequence {Rh Ch Dd [stress]} is repeated with different stressed vowels (short ⟨e⟩ and long ⟨â⟩). The ⟨n⟩ at the end of the first half plays no part in the cynghanedd: the line-final word iâ instead ends in a vowel; if this word also ended in an ⟨n⟩, there would be generic rhyme between the two words, which is not permitted in cynghanedd.

The {D N} of the word is also not part of the cynghanedd: this is the difference between cynghanedd groes and cynghanedd draws. There may be any number of unmatched consonants in the central part of the line, as long as the initial sequence of consonants and accent is repeated. An extreme possibility is the following line of Dafydd ap Gwilym's The Girls of Llanbadarn, where only one syllable is involved:

Pla / ar holl ferched y plwyf! ["A plague on all the girls of the parish!"]

Cynghanedd sain ("sound-harmony")

is characterised by both internal rhyme and consonant-matching. If the line is divided into three sections by its two caesuras, the first and second sections rhyme, and the third section repeats the consonantal patterns of the second. For example in the first line of Dafydd ap Gwilym's poem Yr Gwynt ("The Wind"):

Yr wybrwynt / helynt / hýlaw ["O wind of the sky, whose course is free"]

As with , two successive identical consonants on one side of the caesura can correspond to a single consonant on the other:

Dilwch / yw dy de'gwch / di ["Immaculate is your beauty"]

As with , a consonant can be borrowed from the second part of the line to make up the pattern of consonants in the third part. So in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym, the consonant pattern {F [stress] N} in part 3 is made using the {F} from the end of part two:

Oni chaf / fwynaf / annerch ["If I do not receive a most gentle greeting"]

In the commonly used cywydd metre there is a requirement that one of the two lines of couplet must end in a monosyllable and the other in a polysyllable, so that a stressed rhyming syllable is balanced with an unstressed one. However, this rule does not apply to internal rhymes in .

Cynghanedd lusg ("drag-harmony")

In the final syllable before the caesura in the first half of the line makes full rhyme with the penultimate syllable of the line-final polysyllabic word (i.e. the main stressed syllable of the second half); no consonant-matching is involved. An example is this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym addressed to the wind:

A buaned / y rhedy ["And how swiftly it is that you run"]

This type is less common than the other three types of . For example, it does not occur at all in Dafydd ap Gwilym's poem The Seagull. The difference between and is shown by the following couplet by Dafydd ap Gwilym, which has one line of each:

Ac i wneithur / mesurau ["And to make measures"]
O benillion / mwynion / mau ["Out of my sweet verses"]

Cynghanedd in other metres

patterns in other metres are sometimes the same, sometimes slightly different from the forms described above. For example, in the stanza below, the first from an by Dafydd ap Gwilym in praise of a certain rood-cross in Carmarthen, the first eight syllables of the first line contain a , with rhymes -erth ... -erth and alliteration of ⟨n⟩. The ending of the line together with the beginning of the second line make a , with repeated consonants {TR [stress] SW (R)}, but spread across two lines. The third and fourth lines display the normal and respectively, exactly as in a couplet. The sixth syllable of line 1 rhymes with the final syllable of lines 2, 3, and 4. Finally, lines 1, 3, and 4 are linked by the same initial consonants (cr-), a feature known as . The remaining stanzas of the poem all follow a similar pattern.

Cryf aberth / yw nerth, / nid yn aer /—treiswyr

      Eithr mywn trawswyrth / didaer,
   Crair mawrglod, / croywrym eirglaer,
   Crog bedwarban / o gan / Gaer.
["Strong sacrifice is the strength, not in oppressors' battle
      but in gentle [yet] powerful miracle;
   highly-praised renowned holy relic, pure its vigour,

   of the four-pointed rood from white Caer."]

Internal rhyme in Breton

A form of cynghanedd lusg known as "internal rhyme" (Breton : klotennoù diabarzh, enklotennoù or kenganez) was frequently used in Middle Breton, between the XIIth and XVIIth centuries, in poetry, like in Pemzec Leuenez Maria or in the sonnet from Français Moeam, and theatre like in lots of misterioù, religious pieces, such as Buhez Sante Barba'. Two of the oldest works with internal rhymes are the Ivonet Omnes verses, which seem to be an old Breton lay and Dialog etre Arzuz Roe d'an bretounet ha Guiclaff, a prophetic text in dialogues.

This is an extract of An Dialog etre Arzur Roe d'an Bretounet ha Guynglaff (48-49 verses) :

An tut a ilis diguyset
An douar fallaff a roy guellaff [et]

Though it isn't as used as cynghanedd in Modern Welsh, some authors have published some work using this internal rhyme in poetry (Alan Botrel) or in the form of a lay like Lae Izold by Paskal Tabuteau.

Bibliography

• Hopwood, Mererid (2004), Singing in Chains: Listening to Welsh Verse. Llandysul: Gomer. Template:ISBN.
• Llwyd, Alan (2007), Anghenion y Gynghanedd. Barddas. Template:ISBN
• Turco, Lewis (1986), The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics. University Press of New England: London. Template:ISBN.
• Emile Ernault, L'ancien Vers breton, Honoré Champion, 1912; republished by Brud Nevez, 1991 Template:ISBN

See also

• The Seagull (poem)

External links

• For an example of a poem in English using cynghanedd, see the poem by Katherine Bryant at the end of this page. Note, however, that the poem suffers from the usual awkwardness resulting from the attempt to force English into the Welsh patterns. The cynghanedd here is also either incomplete or faulty in lines 1,2,3,7,8,11,12,14.
• A more thorough introduction to Welsh poetic forms
• Cynghanedd.com A website in Welsh devoted to the strict metres, where poets post their work and discuss.