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):

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:

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.

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 may be ignored):

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

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

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:

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:

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"):

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

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:

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:

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:

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 . 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 . 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. .
  • Llwyd, Alan (2007), Anghenion y Gynghanedd. Barddas.
  • Turco, Lewis (1986), The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics. University Press of New England: London. .
  • Emile Ernault, L'ancien Vers breton, Honoré Champion, 1912; republished by Brud Nevez, 1991

See also

  • The Seagull (poem)

Notes

  • 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.