Editing Dafydd ap Gwilym (section)

==Themes in Dafydd's poetry==
It is believed that about one hundred and seventy of his poems have survived, though many others have been attributed to him over the centuries. His main themes were love and nature. The influence of wider European ideas of [[courtly love]], as exemplified in the [[troubadour]] poetry of [[Provence|Provençal]], is seen as a significant influence on Dafydd's poetry. Courtly love was not a unique theme of Dafydd’s poetry. While courtly love is primarily associated with the literature of mainland Europe, its elements can be found in works across the British Isles.<ref>Breeze, ''Medieval Welsh Literature'', 119.</ref> Elements of courtly love have been noted in Welsh literature well before the Dafydd’s active days, suggesting that courtly love grew as a culturally connected phenomena across European literature.<ref>Gwyn Thomas, ''Daffyd ap Gwilym: His Poems'', (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001), xviii–xix.</ref>

Dafydd’s poetry reflected the individuality of his own personal as well as Welsh cultural expression through his unique expression of common literary practices, as well as his individual voice in his poetry.<ref>Thomas, ''His Poems'', xx–xxi.</ref> One aspect that differed from conventional poetry in Dafydd’s works was the use of himself as the subject. Traditional contemporary poetry traditionally kept the poet far removed from the scene. Dafydd's work, in contrast, is full of his own feelings and experiences, and he is a key figure in this transition from a primarily social poetic tradition into one in which the poet's own vision and art is given precedence. Dafydd’s poetry was also unique in its expressions of religion and nature. In “Praise of Summer,” Dafydd praises both the divine and the changing of summer as connected and benevolent.<ref>Dafydd ap Gwilym, “In Praise of Summer,” in ''Dafydd ap Gwilym: His Poems,'' ed. Gwyn Thomas (Cardiff: Wales University Press, 2001), 59–60.</ref> Reference to the divine in prior and contemporary literature usually depicted strong themes of judgement and virtue. With Dafydd’s poetry, we see these forces as a gift worth celebrating.

Dafydd’s poetry also differs from the conventions of other love poetry in its use of sexual metaphor. Some of Dafydd’s poetry, such as “A Poem in Praise of the Penis” display explicit connection to sexual desire. Yet, Dafydd was also well adept at keeping his metaphors subtle. In “The Lady Goldsmith,” Dafydd praises his devotion to a woman who creates attire out of her hair and nature’s bristle. In the poem, the woman crafts a belt for Dafydd.<ref>Dafydd ap Gwilym, “The Lady Goldsmith,” in ''Dafydd ap Gwilym: His Poems,'' ed. Gwyn Thomas (Cardiff: Wales University Press, 2001), 80–81.</ref> In this poem, the metaphor of sexual desire is drawn from the proximity of the woman’s hair to Dafydd’s waist. The belt itself stands as the sexual connection between this woman and Dafydd. In contrast, traditional courtly love literature tended to shy away from praising sexual desire in favour of patience and virtuous romance.

He was an innovative poet who was responsible for popularising the metre known as the "[[cywydd]]" and first to use it for praise. Dafydd also has been credited for popularising the meter form known as “cynghanedd.”<ref>Thomas, ''His Poems'', xiv.</ref> The continued use of cynghanedd and cywydd by Welsh poets after Dafydd’s active years is a testament to the effect Dafydd had on shaping Welsh literary culture. Dafydd’s poetry provided a framework for which Welsh literary culture could grow its own unique traditions.

Although Dafydd wrote comparatively conventional praise poetry, he also wrote love poetry and poetry expressing a personal wonderment at nature; Dafydd's poetry on the latter subject in particular is largely without precedent in Welsh or European literature in terms of its depth and complexity. His popularity during his own historic period is testified by the fact that so many of his poems were selected for preservation in texts, despite a relatively short career compared to some of his contemporaries.<ref name="Huw">{{cite web |last1=Edwards |first1=Huw M. |title=The Literary Context |url=http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net/docs/The%20Literary%20Context.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706092205/http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net/docs/the%20literary%20context.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2015 |url-status=live |website=dafyddapgwilym.net |access-date=29 June 2018}}</ref>

Many of his poems are addressed to women, but particularly to two of them, Morfudd and Dyddgu. His best-known works include the following poems:

*''Morfudd fel yr haul'' (Morfudd Like the Sun), a poem to the wife of an [[Aberystwyth]] merchant who seems to have had a long affair with Dafydd, and whom he addressed in many poems;{{efn|[http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Morfudd_fel_yr_haul full text]}}
*''Merched Llanbadarn'' ([[The Girls of Llanbadarn]]), in which he speaks of going to church on Sunday in order to ogle the local women;{{efn|[http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Merched_Llanbadarn full text]}}
*''Trafferth mewn tafarn'' ([[Trouble at a Tavern]]), in which he comically recounts the injuries and difficulties he faces trying to meet his lover in a tavern;{{efn|[http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Trafferth_mewn_tafarn full text]}}
*''Yr wylan'' ([[The Seagull (poem)|The Seagull]]), a poem in which Dafydd asks a seagull to carry a message to his love;{{efn|[https://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Yr_Wylan full text]}}
*''Y Rhugl Groen'' (The Rattle Bag), in which Dafydd's intercourse with a young girl is cruelly interrupted;{{efn|[http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Y_Rhugl_Groen full text]}} and
*''Cywydd y gal'' (A Poem in Praise of the Penis), a risqué piece of pure medieval [[erotica]].{{efn|[http://cy.wikisource.org/wiki/Cywydd_y_gal full text]}} Until recently not included in editions of Dafydd's works.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Johnston |first=David |date=Summer 1985 |title=''Cywydd y Gal'' by Dafydd ap Gwilym |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ampnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Parry+refrained+from+printing%22 |journal=Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies |issue=9 |pages=72–73 |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref>

The lyrics to the ''[[Lied]]'' 'Der Traum' in [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s 1810 collection ''26 Welsh Songs'' are a German translation and adaption of a dream-vision poem supposedly by Dafydd,<ref>According to Charles Johnston's explanatory notes on the Astrée / Naïve CD 'Beethoven: Irish, Welsh & Scottish Songs' (2001).</ref> though not to be found among his works or in his apocrypha.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowan |first1=Martha |editor-last1=Maier |editor-first1=Bernhard |editor-link1=Bernhard Maier |editor-last2=Zimmer |editor-first2=Stefan |editor-last3=Batke |editor-first3=Christiane |date=2001 |chapter=The Dying Bard All Through the Night: Corpus, Canon and Context for the Welsh Song-Arrangements of Haydn and Beethoven |title=150 Jahre "Mabinogion": Deutsch-Walisische Kulturbeziehungen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03-mDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA278 |series=Buchreihe der Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, 19 |location=Tübingen |publisher=Max Niemeyer |page=278 |isbn=3484429194 |access-date=2 June 2024 }}</ref>