Goronwy Owen at William Morris, Donnington, 6 Rhagfyr 1752, BL Add. 15037 43r-46r. (= Davies 10)
[td. 43r]
Donnington December 6th 1752 Dear Sir, | Ynghylch Cywydd Coffadwriaeth am Farged Morys o Bentre Erianell. Curadaeth &c ym Môn — ac Ystyfnigrwydd yr Awen |
It is a sad Case to be forced to begin a Letter to a Friend
with an Apology. I own I had need to do so, tho' at present
I
[td. 43v]
shall only beg your Pardon for my Dilatoriness which
I doubt not but you will grant without an Apology.
It is a sufficient Punishment to be deprived by my own Tardiness of the
Pleasure of your Letters. I have not heard from
Gallt Fadog since the beginning of October, tho' I wrote about
a Month since. Mr. Llewelyn Ddu talked of going to London & I
fear he had set out before my Letter reach'd Ceredigion. I've
heard from the Navy Office not long since, and am still a Letter
indebted to Mr. R. M. which I intend to discharge very soon.
Chwi gawsech glywed oddiwrthyf yn gynt ond odid oni buasai
y Rhew tost a fu 'n ddiweddar, Nid yw'r Awen on'd fferllyd
ac anystwyth ar yr Hin oer yma. Ni chaiff Dyn chwaith
mo'r Amser i brydyddu gan fyrred y dyddiau, a chan ymysgrythu ac ymwthio i Gonglau, a pha beth a dâl Creft [sic]
heb ei dilyn? Ba wedd bynnag llyna ichwi ryw fath ar bwtt
o Gywydd o Goffadwriaeth am yr Hen Wraig dda o Bentre Eriannell
gynt; Hoff oedd genyf hi yn ei Bywyd, a diau fod rhywbeth
yn ddyledus i Goffadwriaeth Pobl dda ar ol eu claddu, yr hyn,
er nad yw fudd yn y Byd iddynt hwy, a eill ddigwydd fod yn
llesol i'r byw i'w hannog i ddilyn Camrau y Campwyr gorchestol a lewychasant mor hoyw odidog yn y Byd o'u blaen hwynt.
Nid yw cymmaint fy Rhyfyg i a meddwl y dichyn fod ar law
Burgyn o'm bâth i ganu iddi fal yr haeddai. Beth er hynny?
Melysaf y cân Eos, ond nid erchis Duw i'r Frân dewi. Yr
Asyn a gododd ei Droed ar Arffed ei Feistr, ac nid llai ei
Ewyllys da ef na'r Colwyn, er nad hawddgar ei Foesau.
[td. 44r]
F'all Bardd Du ddangos yr Ewyllys, ac nid all Bardd Côch
amgen, cyd bâi amgen ei Gywydd. I don't remember
that I ever saw a Cywydd Marwnad by any of ye Antients
(whom I would willingly imitate) & so can't tell how such
a Cywydd ought to be made; neither do I call this a
Cywydd Marwnad, but Cywydd Coffadwriaeth &c. I did not
rightly know how to go about it, for I could not form any
proper Idea of it in my Mind & so was obliged (as it
were) to build without a Plan. I saw myself under
several Difficulties; Poets in these Cases are (& I think
are allow'd to be, tho' they ought not) very lavish of
their Praises, even to an Hyperbole & seldom free from
Flattery even of the grossest Kind, i.e. Hard lying. I
propos'd to myself to keep a strict Eye upon Truth, but
then I saw that my Truth would of Necessity be so like other
Men's Lyes, that the Counterfeit would hardly be distinguishable
from the Sterling, and for that reason I was afraid to
say what my Love of Truth would needs force me to say.
I saw that I could say nothing of that excellent Woman
(tho' perhaps true of her only, & peculiar to herself)
but what had been ascribed before by the prostituted
Breath of some execrable Poetaster or other to (perhaps)
the most worthless Miscreants that ever Death spew'd at
the cooking of. I'm sure my main Endeavour was to
avoid all Appearances of Flattery, & that, at the Expense
of suppressing some Truths, & if any thing looks like it, it is
[td. 44v]
foreign to my Intention & I utterly disclaim the Meaning
of whatever may be perverted to such a Construction. These
were some of my main Difficulties, and whether I have
surmounted 'em I leave you to judge. I have one favour
to ask you, and that is, That you would present this Cywydd
in my Name to your Father (whom I'm really sorry for)
& send me a Copy of Bardd Côch's Cywydd, i gael gweled
pa ragor rhwng coch a Du. But for Love's
sake don't you take Example by me in deferring to
write, I beg I may hear from you as soon as conveniently
may be, and I shall never any more be faulty in point
of Expeditiousness. Os gwyddoch pale y mae, rhowch fi
ar Sathr y Brawd Llewelyn Ddu, 'rwy'n tybio ei fyned i
Lundain cyn hyn, ac os felly, yn iach glywed na
Siw na Miw oddiwrtho hyd oni ddychwelo. My
Compliments to Mr. Ellis, & if he chooses to join in the Publication of the Cywyddau he shall be very welcome
& have my Thanks too. But I am afraid the Cywyddau
will never be printed, because I doubt the Money cannot
be raised. The Rate of printing at Salop is 2 Guineas a
Sheet for 1000 Copies, which is three times too much to
bestow upon them, & there would not go above 2 or 3 at most
on a Sheet. For my Part I am very indifferent whether
they are printed or not. Ai byw'r hen Gristiolus wydn
fyth? Is the Curacy of Llanrhuddlad disposed of? What other
[td. 45r]
Curacy is vacant? for I am sure I shall never better my
self by staying here. I have already sufficiently tried the
Generosity of my Scotch Patron, & find it too slender to
lean on. He is the hardest Man I ever dealt with. —
Waethwaeth yr a'r Byd wrth aros yma, prin
y gellir byw yr awrhon (a pha fodd amgen tra bo'r
Brithyd am Goron y Mesur Winchester, a'r Ymenyn
am 7 Geiniog a'r Caws am dair a dimmai'r Pwys?)
a pha sut y gellir disgwyl byw tra cynnydda'r
Teulu ac na chynnydda'r Cyflog? Y llangciau a ânt
fwyfwy'r Clwt, fwyfwy'r Cadach, ac ymhell y
bwyf, (ie pellach o Fôn nag ydwyf) os gwn i pa'r fyd
a'm dwg. Ni's gwybum i mo'm geni, er clywed gan
fy Mam ganwaith, nes dyfod i fysg y Saeson drelion
yma. Och finneu! mi glywswn ganwaith sôn am eu
Cynneddfau, a mawr na ffynnasai genyf eu gochel. Mi
allaf ddywedyd am danynt fal y dywaid Brenhines Seba am
Solomon, "Gwir yw'r Gair a glywais yn fy Ngwlad fy hun
am danynt, etto ni chredais y Geiriau nes im ddyfod ac i'm
llygaid weled; ac wele ni fynegasid imi 'r Hanner". Nid oes
genyf fi lid yn y Byd i'r Doctor E__s, mae yn rhydd iddo
fo ddictatio fal y fynno, onid fod yn rhydd i minnau
wneuthur yn fy newis ai canlyn ei Ddictats ef ai peidio,
a pheidied O â digio oni chanlynaf, ac yno, fe fydd pob peth
o'r gorau. Cenawes ystyfnig ydyw'r Awen, ni thry hi
[td. 45v]
oddiar ei Llwybr ei hun er ungwr. Ac yn wir nid
yw ond digon anrhesymmol i Wr na fedd nag Awen
na'i Chysgod, gymeryd arno ddysgu un a'i medd
pa fodd iw harfer a'i rheoli. F'ellir gwneuthur
Pwtt o Bregeth ar y Testun a fynno un arall; ond
am Gywydd ni thâl Ddraen oni chaiff yr Awen ei Phen
yn rhydd, ac aed lle mynno. A phwy bynnag a
ddywedo amgen, gwybydded fod ganddo Awen ystwythach na'm Hawen i, 'rhon ysgatfydd sy' mor
warrgaled o ddiffyg na buaswn yn ei dofi yn ieuangach. Cennad i'm crogi onid wyf yn meddwl fod
yr Awen fal llawer Mireinferch arall, po dycnaf
a diwyttaf y'i cerir, murseneiddiaf a choeccaf
fyth y'i cair. Nis gwn, pe'm blingid, pa un
waethaf a'i gormod Gofal a'i gormod Diofalwch.
We have here in this Parish of Wroxeter some
very curious Pieces of Antiquity lately found, they are three
Roman Monuments, set up, as appears by the Inscriptions (which are very plain & legible & the Stones
entire) about the Time of Vespasian. One being for one
Caius Mannius a Prætorian Legate of the 20th Legion
& another for Marcus Petronius an Ensign or
Standard Bearer of the 19th Legion. Wroxeter
was once one of the finest Cities in Britain (tho' now
[td. 46r]
but a poor Village) as appears by the Ruins of it
that are now to be seen & are daily more & more discover'd & the vast Number of Roman Coins that
are yearly & daily found in it. It was call'd by
the Romans Uriconium & Viroconium
(perhaps from Gorygawn or Gwrogion) & probably
destroy'd by the Saxons, for we have here a Tradition
that it was set on Fire by a Flight of Sparrows
that had Matches tied to their Tails for that Purpose
by the Enemy.
after this Letter read that in Page XV
and then read No. 5 in Page 7.