Hedd Wyn - First World War

First World War

By this time the First World War was at its height. There was great support for the war in Wales and David Lloyd George, prime minister from 1916, urged his countrymen to make sacrifices for the war effort. Welshmen had volunteered in large numbers from 1914 and the introduction of conscription in late 1916 did not undermine support.

Naturally the war affected Hedd Wyn’s work and produced some of his best poetry including Plant Trawsfynnydd ("Children of Trawsfynnydd"), Y Blotyn Du ("The Black Dot"), and Nid â’n Ango (" Will Not Be Forgotten"). His poem, Rhyfel ("War"), remains one of his most frequently quoted works.

Gwae fi fy myw mewn oes mor ddreng,
A Duw ar drai ar orwel pell;
O'i ol mae dyn, yn deyrn a gwreng,
Yn codi ei awdurdod hell.
Pan deimlodd fyned ymaith Dduw
Cyfododd gledd i ladd ei frawd;
Mae swn yr ymladd ar ein clyw,
A'i gysgod ar fythynnod tlawd.
Mae'r hen delynau genid gynt,
Ynghrog ar gangau'r helyg draw,
A gwaedd y bechgyn lond y gwynt,
A'u gwaed yn gymysg efo'r glaw
Why must I live in this grim age,
When, to a far horizon, God
Has ebbed away, and man, with rage,
Now wields the sceptre and the rod?
Man raised his sword, once God had gone,
To slay his brother, and the roar
Of battlefields now casts upon
Our homes the shadow of the war.
The harps to which we sang are hung,
On willow boughs, and their refrain
Drowned by the anguish of the young
Whose blood is mingled with the rain.

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