Much of Welsh language poetry has, until quite recently, been composed in various forms of strict metre (canu caeth), latterly with the encouragement of the eisteddfod movement. The following list is as inclusive as possible for the years prior to 1600. It includes as many minor poets as possible to illustrate the range and content of Welsh poetry throughout the ages. However much early poetry has been lost, and much medieval verse is either anonymous or, usually in the case of mythological poems and prophetic verse, attributed to the 6th-century poet Taliesin or the mythical figure of Myrddin. Early religious and gnomic verse is also usually anonymous. Where possible examples of each poet's surviving work is presented at Welsh Poetry at Wikisource
Each period of the poets listed below is accompanied by a graphical timeline to illustrate the main events and individuals that influenced the poets and their work. These timelines also depict the development of the Welsh language. Further details of its development may be found at Welsh language.
Pre 6th century
No works by Welsh poets prior to the 6th century have survived. Tradition records:
Maelgwyn of Llandaff (c. 450) – said, according to one source, to have written of Joseph of Arimathea's burial at Glastonbury.[1] However, in the mid-5th century he would have spoken Brythonic, not Welsh, and as a monk would probably have written in Latin. His existence is doubtful.
St. Meugan (fl. c. late 5th century) – possibly a court poet to Cadwallon of Gwynedd
6th century to 1100
Extant
The bulk of surviving verse from the period known as "Canu'r Bwlch" is anonymous.(see Wikisource)
The works of the following poets, belonging to the Hengerdd or Cynfeirdd period, are extant and accepted as probably genuine:
Juvencus Manuscript/ Cambridge Juvencus (late 9th century) contains two Welsh englyn-poems, one of nine and one of three englynion.[2] For the text and Sir Ifor William's translation see: The Juvencus Englynion.
The englyn-cycles which were previously attributed to Llywarch Hen and Heledd are now seen as works of later (9th–10th century) poets.
St Elaeth (11th century) – a poet and a monk whose surviving verse is recorded in the Black Book Of Carmarthen.
Cuhelyn the Bard [cy] (?9th century) – referred to in several poems but otherwise unknown. None of his work survives. The earliest reference to him is in a text [1] (English version) found in the Black Book Of Carmarthen. However, a later charter of Sir Nicholas FitzMartin, Marcher Lord of Kemes, off-handedly describes someone as his descendant; the charter grants the supposed descendant land in the Preseli Hills.[3][4]
Bleheris (?11th century) – an otherwise unknown poet of doubtful authenticity referred to as "born and bred in Wales" in Gawain and as a source for the story.[5]
Other
Myrddin ab Morfryn – was believed by some to be an historical person who died in AD 570, but is now accepted as a mythical figure (see Merlin).[6]
Timeline
1100 to 1290
The following group of court poets used to be called the Gogynfeirdd and are now generally referred to as "Beirdd y Tywysogion", the Poets of the Princes. The list is roughly chronological.
Adda Fras (c. 1240 – c. 1320) – whose poems haven't survived but whose name is recorded in one of the Peniarth manuscripts and in Tudur Aled's elegy to Dafydd ab Edmwnd.[8]
Cadwgan Ffôl (13th century) – whose englyn celebrating a victory gained by the Welsh over the English at Degannwy is preserved in one of the Peniarth Manuscripts.
Timeline of major poets
1290 to c.1500
The poets of this period are known as Beirdd yr Uchelwyr. The list is fairly chronological but not exhaustive as the work of some minor poets of the late 15th and 16th centuries remains in manuscript and a large corpus of late medieval Darogan, prophetic verse, is anonymous or attributed to early poets. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards.
Dafydd Epynt (fl. c. 1460) – who composed poems in praise of Christ, patron saints and the nobility associated with Brecon and Abergavenny. Texts of his poems are found in the Peniarth manuscripts.[12]
Most of the earlier poets here are very much in the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr tradition. Traditional patronage dwindled in the late 16th century but a handful of bards still received patronage from the gentry into the 17th century. Free verse by individuals composing "freelance" gradually took over from the mid-16th century onwards. The free verse and strict metre poets sit rather uneasily together in this list.
St. Richard Gwyn (c. 1537–1584) – who composed a number of odes in defence of Catholicism, while jailed.[16]
Alis Wen (Alice ferch Gruffudd ap Ieuan Fychan; fl. 1540–1570) – whose surviving poems include musings on the type of man she desired to marry and on her fathers’ second marriage.[17]
Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Ieuan Fychan (fl. 16th century) – whose surviving poem is on a theme of religion.[17]
Rhisiart Gruffudd (fl. c. 1569) – whose surviving work includes a poem seeking reconciliation between Sir Richard Bulkeley of Anglesey with his second wife, Agnes, who had been accused of poisoning her husband.[21]
Cadwaladr ap Rhys Trefnant (fl. 1600) – whose surviving poems in praise of noble families of Montgomeryshire are recorded in some of the Peniarth and Mostyn manuscripts.
^Looker, Ray (Mrs Ray Morgan). "Morus Dwyfech, or Mours ap Dafydd ab Ifan ab Einion". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved December 18, 2016. His will, in the form of a poem, expressed the poet's desire to be buried at Penllech, and, from the elegies composed to him by Siôn Phylip and Huw Pennant, it is evident that his wish was granted.
^Rhiannon Ifans, 'Gwaith Syr Dafydd Trefor', Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth, 2006
