 where are all you welsh speakers? It took me ages to find that bit of poetry.
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 I've txted it to a friend who's boyfriend is Welsh. I'll soon have your translation for you!
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I really should have thought of a prize shouldn't I?
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Cholit?
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Sorry, that should read "Choclit?"
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 Is "Cholit" Welsh for Choclit?
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I am informed it is something to do with "the Church bells ringing, whilst the climber, climbs the mountain", but because it is in a very formal variation on Welsh, the English translation, "is hard to describe"
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 I will confirm that.
It is the first two lines from a strict metre poem entitled "Y Llwynog" (the fox).
It describes his/her existance on the mountains. It obviously does not scan in English so a literal translation is very difficult. For the full version:-
Y Llwynog
Ganllath o gopa'r mynydd, pan oedd clych
Eglwysi'r llethrau'n gwahodd tua'r llan,
Ac anhreuliedig haul Gorffennaf gwych
Yn gwahodd tua'r mynydd, - yn y fan,
Ar ddiarwybod droed a distaw duth,
Llwybreiddiodd ei ryfeddod prin o'n blaen:
Ninnau heb ysgog ac heb ynom chwyth
Barlyswyd ennyd: megis trindod faen
Y safem, pan ar ganol diofal gam
Syfrdan y safodd yntau, ac uwchlaw
Ei untroed oedig dwy sefydlog fflam
Ei lygaid arnom. Yna heb frys na braw
Llithrodd ei flewyn cringoch dros y grib:
Digwyddodd, darfu, megis seren wib.
R. Williams Parry
It would be very difficult to express it in English I think however that the last line is the easiest to define and somewhere near the English.
Digwyddodd, darfu, megis seren wib = (roughly translated) "He happened , he perished , as a star wandering"
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Any chance of an artisticly licensed translation? Something which captures then essence, and story, but is in English?
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Sorry Drew, the task is beyond me. I could translate individual words but the meaning is lost on me. For example, take the second line "pan oedd clych," that to me is literally saying "when he was bells."
It certainly makes no sense to me.
What you need is an interpretation from someone who understands literal Welsh, a task beyond even the most accomplished native speaker.
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I also meant to add average between accomplished and native!
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Ok. Cool. I didn't think there would be muchchance, seeing as the guy I asked took about 5 minutes to give me that line! And Welsh is his first language!
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Another example:-
line three "Ac anhreuliedig haul Gorffennaf gwych"
Literal translation is. "And undigested sun, July fine!!!!"
Now that might mean something to poetic souls, but I am afraid it does nothing but confuse me!!!!
:-0
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Sorry, just re-read it, should have been . "And undigested sun, July excellant!!!!"
(still as confused however!!!)
I suppose it does have it's parallel in English. There are the popular poets like Wordsworth etc, and others that quite frankly seem to have been on an acid trip long before it was invented!!!
;-)
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Yeah. I thought it would be something like reading Ye Olde Engleesh.
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ok, well the translation I have is:
Near the summit of the mountain, when the church bells
from the valley called all men of God
and the rest:
And when the clear summer sun, undimmed,
spoke to the mountain peak. Then, precisely then,
came the stirring of his honest foot,
with its rare beauty, startling to our sight;
We did not move, nor did we wish to,
But remained transfixed, like a trinity in stone
We stood stock still, frozen in our stride.
He also stopped; his eyes staring unblinking
Above his steady paws, and then,
without a sign of fright or haste,
his blur of red moved on,
Disappearing like a shooting star.
-------------------------------------
Published by Parry in 1924.
'fraid no-one gets the prize...
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 Our translationunit said:
Well very loosely:
A hundred yards from the mountain top, when the bells
Of the churches on the slope were inviting us there [to church]
Doesn't mean much as it stands, being just 2 lines of the whole as it were!
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As I think you will see, this is open to much "poetic licence," the literal translations bearing little resemblance to modern spoken Welsh!
The first two lines certainly do not mention valley. (Cwm)
And turning "star wandering" in the last line to "shooting star" is very much open to interpretation.
This is the problem with strict metre Welsh poetry, it has no real translation into English, but I have to say that Maria's "approximation" does lend itself well to an English version if one existed!
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Oh it's not my translation I should point out, would that I were capable!
Translations of poetry and prose are rarely up to much if they're literal IMHO, well, you don't even literally translate the spoken word do you? Unless you want to come across as a babelfish user...
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Hey... I got some of the translation (and was first with what I had!) so I should get the prize!!!
I want CHOCLIT!!!!!!!!!!!
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