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Cynghanedd (literally "harmony"), in Welsh language poetry, is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of cynghanedd show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the awdl. Cynghanedd has been used from very early times and continues in common use today.
Forms of cynghanedd
The examples below are from the poem Cywydd y Cedor, by the fourteenth-century bard Gwerful Mechain. The caesuras are marked with slashes ("/") and rhyming parts are marked in bold. Note that Dd, Ll and Ch are counted as single consonants in the Welsh alphabet.
Cynghanedd groes ("cross-harmony")
All consonants which appear in the line before the caesura must be repeated after it, in the same order. For example:
clawdd i ddal / cal ddwy ddwylaw CL Dd Dd L / C L Dd Dd L
Cynghanedd draws (also "cross-harmony")
Like the cynghanedd groes, except not all of the consonants are repeated. For example:
dabl y gerdd / a'i dwbl o goch D BL G RDd D BL G Ch
Cynghanedd sain ("sound-harmony")
The line has two caesuras, and thus has three sections. The first and second sections rhyme; the consonants of the second section are repeated in the third section. For example:
pant yw hwy / na llwy / na llaw / N Ll / N Ll
Cynghanedd lusg ("drag-harmony")
The first accented syllable in the line rhymes with the second-to-last syllable of the line. For example:
duw er ei radd / a'i addef,,
Bibliography
- Hopwood, Mererid (2004), Singing in chains: listening to Welsh verse. Llandysul : Gomer. ISBN 1843234025.
External links
- For an example of a poem in English using cynghanedd, see the poem by Katherine Bryant at the end of this page.
- A more thorough introduction to Welsh poetic forms
- Cynghanedd.com
"Cynghanedd"