Cynghanedd

Stressed ending + stressed

The simplest and most common kind of cynghanedd groes is a line where both halves of the line end in a stressed syllable (which can be either a monosyllable or a polysyllable such as erioed ["ever before"] stressed on the final). This type is known as cynghanedd gytbwys acennog ["balanced, accented cynghanedd"].^[4] In this type the consonants are repeated only up as far as the stressed vowel, but not usually after it. A seven-syllable line may be divided 3 syllables + 4, or 4 syllables + 3.

The example below, taken from Dafydd ap Gwilym (14th century), has the consonantal pattern {N D [stress]} in both halves:

Yn y dydd / ai un ai dwy ["In the day either one (girl) or two"]^[7]

The second, also by Dafydd ap Gwilym, has the more complex pattern {G R Dd D R [stress]} in both halves:

Agwrdd drwst / a gerdda draw ["A mighty commotion which passes yonder"]^[8]

Occasionally the break may be found after the fourth syllable, as in the following example, which has the pattern {L L M [stress]} in both halves:

Lawlaw â mi / lili mor ["Nearby me, lily of the sea"]^[9]

When the word carrying the stress in the first half starts with a vowel or a semivowel with no consonant immediately preceding, the matching word in the second half often also starts with a vowel or semivowel, as if the vocalic onset itself was the equivalent of a consonant. The following example from Dafydd ap Gwilym reports the words of an angry husband chasing Dafydd:

Llyma'i ôl / a llym yw ef! ["There are his tracks – a sharp one, he is!"]^[10]

Another example from the same poem is the following line describing icicles:

Dagrau oer, / dagerau iâ ["Cold tears, daggers of ice"]^[10]

The internal rhyme -au -au in this last example means that it can also be interpreted as cynghanedd sain gadwynog (see below).

Unstressed ending + unstressed

In a second type, known as cynghanedd gytbwys ddiacen ["balanced, unaccented cynghanedd"],^[11] both halves of the line end in a polysyllable stressed on the penultimate. Here the consonants both before and after the stressed vowel are repeated, but the consonants at the very end of each half must not match. Again, the line may be divided 3 + 4, or 4 + 3. The first example below is divided 3 syllables + 4, and has the pattern {H L B R [stress] N W}:

Hwylbrenwyllt / heli bronwyn ["The wild-masted, white-breasted sea"]^[12]

Occasionally the break is found after the fourth syllable. The following has the pattern {Ll R I [stress] N G}:

Llywiwr iawngamp / llariangerdd ["Excellent ruler of gentle verse"]^[13]

If the stressed vowel in the first half is followed by a vowel or semivowel, the corresponding stressed vowel in the matching word in the second half is likewise followed by a vowel or semivowel, as in this example by Dafydd ap Gwilym. Here the pattern is {G R [stress] [vowel]}:^[14]

Ag aur eos / garuaidd ["And the beloved golden nightingale"]^[15]

This type with a polysyllabic ending in each half of the line is less common than type 1.

Stressed ending + unstressed

In the third type of cynghanedd groes, known as cynghanedd anghytbys ddisgynedig ["unbalanced, descending cynghanedd"],^[16] the first half-line ends in a monosyllable, and the second half in a polysyllable stressed on the penultimate. (The reverse, namely polysyllable + monosyllable, is not found in cynghanedd groes.) Here the division must be 3 syllables + 4.^[17] Any consonants immediately following the stressed vowel are repeated in both halves. An example is this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym from his poem The Seagull, which repeats the seven consonants {D R N F L H [stress] L}:

Darn fal haul / dyrnfol heli ["Like a piece of sun, a gauntlet of sea"]^[9]

In the following line in the same way all the consonants of the first half, {C R Dd W [stress] S}, are repeated in the same order in the second half; but the second ⟨w⟩ in the word dewiswyrdd is not used:

Cerdda, was, / câr ddewiswyrdd ["Go, lad, admire the superb greenery"]^[18]

If the monosyllable at the end of the first half has no consonant after the stressed vowel, the polysyllable at the end of the second line should also have no consonant (or only a semivowel) after its stressed vowel, as in this line by Tudur Aled (16th century), in which the pattern is {G Ll M [stress]}:^[19]

Gwell i mi / golli ' mywyd ["It would be better for me to lose my life"]

If the stressed vowel in the first half is followed by two different consonants, both consonants may be echoed in the second half, as in this line attributed to Wiliam Llŷn (16th century):^[20]

Eryr gwyllt / ar war gelltydd ["A wild eagle on the heights of the cliffs"]

In other lines of this kind, however, the second consonant after the stressed vowel in the first half is omitted from the cynghanedd, as in this line by Tudur Aled (16th century), in which the ⟨l⟩ of crupl is ignored:^[21]

A' r dyn crupl / er doe' n cropian ["and the crippled man, even yesterday, was crawling"]

Ignored consonants

In cynghanedd groes there are in principle no consonants in the second half of the line which are not part of the consonantal echoing, apart from the consonant or consonants at the very end of the line. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule: for example, a letter ⟨n⟩ at or near the beginning of either half of the line can occasionally be ignored.^[22] The consonant ⟨h⟩ and the semivowels ⟨w⟩ and ⟨i̯⟩ (as in iach) can also optionally be ignored.

The consonant ⟨f⟩ can also sometimes be ignored, for example in the following line, where the pattern is {C L G [stress] R}:

Cyfliw gŵr / cael ei garu ["A man hidden in the bushes, getting loved"]^[23][24]

One regular feature of cynghanedd groes is that the first ⟨n⟩ of either half can be ignored. Thus in the following line by Wiliam Llŷn (16th century), the first ⟨n⟩ is ignored in the pattern {Ll [stress] DR}:

Anllywodraeth / a lladrad ["Anarchy and brigandage"]

In the following line by Dafydd ap Gwilym, in which the pattern in each half is {H R Dd C [stress]}, the first ⟨n⟩ of the second half is omitted from the cynghanedd:

Hirddu cas / yn hyrddio coed ["(Winter), long, dark and unpleasant, buffeting the trees"]^[25]

Lines like the above, with an ignored ⟨n⟩ at the beginning of the second half, are considered to be a case of "lost ⟨n⟩ in the middle" (n ganolgoll) rather than cynghanedd draws.^[26]

Linked cynghanedd

Occasionally a consonant at the end of the first half-line can be used to complete the pattern of the second half.^[27] Thus in the line below, by Dafydd ap Gwilym, ⟨n⟩ is carried over from the first half-line to make the pattern {N Th L [stress] S} in the second half:

Na Thaliesin_/_ei thlysach ["Nor did Taliesin (ever love) anyone as beautiful as she"]^[9]

Similarly in the following line where the consonantal pattern in the first half is {F R [stress] N}, by the early 19th-century poet Dewi Wyn o Eifion, the letter ⟨f⟩ of wennaf is used to make the same pattern in the second half. (The consonant ⟨w⟩ is ignored.)

Fair wennaf_/_o rianedd ["Mary, fairest of maidens"]

In the following line of the 15th-century poet Guto'r Glyn the pattern is {R CR [stress] [vowel]}. The ⟨r⟩ at the end of Creawdr is carried forward to complete the pattern in the second half:^[28]

Ar y Creawd r_/_y criaf ["To the Creator I will cry"]

In the following line, also by Dewi Wyn, two consonants, ⟨d⟩ and ⟨l⟩, are adopted from the first section into the second to make the pattern {D L R G [stress] N} in both halves:

Dal i' r genedl_/_aur gannwyll ["Holding to the nation a golden candle"]

Occasionally the same consonant is needed for the pattern in both halves of the line. In the following example by Gwilym ab Ieuan Hen (15th century), the ⟨n⟩ from sôn is used twice, once to complete the pattern {N D S [stress] N} in the first half, and again to start the same pattern in the second half:

Nid o sôn_/_y daw synnwyr ["It is not from talk that sense comes"]

Similarly in the following line by R. Williams Parry (20th century), the ⟨m⟩ of mi is used twice to create the pattern {M L S M [stress]} in both halves:^[17]

Melys i mi_/_lais y mor ["Sweet to me is the voice of the sea"]

This type, in which the last consonant in the first half is adopted to complete the pattern in the second half, is known as cynghanedd groes o gyswllt ["Cross harmony from coupling"]. It is usually assumed that in such lines there is no break or pause between the two halves of the line.

The reverse situation is also possible, when a consonant from the beginning of the second half is used in order to complete the pattern of the first half. Thus in the following line, in order to complete the pattern {S D H [stress] N} in the first half, the ⟨n⟩ of nos is borrowed from the beginning of the second half:^[29]

Os daw hi,_/_nos da i'w hwyneb ["If she comes, (say) good night to her face"]^[30]

The above type, in which the first consonant in the second half is adopted to complete the pattern in the first half, is known as cynghanedd gysylltben.^[31]

Two consonants for one

Sometimes in cynghanedd groes a consonant which comes twice in succession in one half of the line corresponds to a single consonant in the other half, as in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym addressing the wind, where the two ⟨r⟩s in the first half correspond to a single ⟨r⟩ in the second half, creating the pattern {G R S [stress]}:

Gŵr eres wyd / garw ei sain ["You are a strange man, with a harsh voice"]^[12]

In the following, by Siôn Phylip (16th century), two ⟨r⟩s in the second half correspond to one in the first, creating the pattern {C R D [stress] Ch}. The ⟨h⟩ of ⟨rh⟩ is ignored:

Crïwyd uwch / caer Rhydychen ["There was weeping above the wall of Oxford"]

Pronunciation of consonants

In cynghanedd of the medieval period, it often happens that ⟨b+h⟩ and ⟨b+b⟩ are matched by ⟨p⟩ in the other half of the line; similarly, ⟨d+h⟩ and ⟨d+d⟩ are matched by ⟨t⟩ and so on.^[32] For example, in the following line by Ieuan Deulwyn (15th century), ⟨b+h⟩ corresponds to ⟨p⟩, making the pattern {H P [stress] R} in both halves of the line:

Heb hiraeth / – hi a'i peris ["Without longing – it is she who caused it"]

In this line of Lewis Glyn Cothi (16th century), ⟨t⟩ corresponds to ⟨d+d⟩, making the pattern {Ch T [stress]}:

Achau y tad, / o chaid dydd ["The ancestry of the father, if one had a day (to hear it)"]

It is assumed that the pronunciation of ⟨d d⟩ in this line was /t/ in the poet's day, and that ⟨b h⟩ sounded like /p/.

On the other hand ⟨st⟩ can correspond to ⟨s d⟩, as in this line by Gruffudd ap Ieuan^[33] (16th century), where the pattern is {T R S D R C [stress]}:

Trist yw' r cwyn / tros awdur cerdd ["Sad is the complaint for an author of song"]^[34]

Irregular lines

Occasionally, the final word of the line is not involved in the cynghanedd. This is known as cynghanedd groes bengoll^[4] ["headless cross harmony"], for example:

Lle tew / lletyau / mwyeilch ["Where there are dense abodes of blackbirds"]^[35]

Other lines are irregular because their consonantal patterns do not quite match. For example, the following line, describing the snout of a fox, has the pattern {G F L [stress] NW} in the first half but the slightly different pattern {G L F [stress] NW} in the second:

Gefel unwedd / gylfinwaed ["His bloodstained snout like pincers"]^[36]

The following is irregular, since ⟨r⟩ in the first half and ⟨l⟩ in the second half are both ignored, but the other consonants match:

Gŵyr ei ddrem / gelu ei ddrwg ["His look knows how to hide his wickedness"]^[7]

Lines such as the following, by Lewys Glyn Cothi (15th century), praising a lady for her auspicious name, are also considered irregular since although the same consonants are used in both halves, they are arranged differently around the stressed vowels. Here the first half has the pattern {M R [stress] G R} but the second half has {M [stress] R G R}:^[17]

Mair o awgrym / yw Marg'red ["Margaret's name suggests Mary"]

This fault, where the consonants are arranged differently around the stress, is known as crych a llyfn ["wrinkled and smooth"].^[37]

Classification

Cynghanedd draws lines can be classified into three types in the same way as cynghanedd groes according to the stress of the syllable which ends each half.

Even with a monosyllable at the end of each half, the consonant matching may continue after the stressed vowel if the final consonants are different:

Galw ar fun, / ddyn gŵyl, i'r fainc ["I called the maid, a bashful girl, to the bench"]^[38]

Similarly, when both halves may end in a polysyllable, the consonant-matching can continue to the end of the word, provided the very last consonant is different, as in this line of Dafydd ap Gwilym in praise of the month of May:

Cennad / nawugain cynnadl ["Messenger of ninescore trysts"]^[39]

There may be any number of unmatched consonants in the central part of the line, as long as the initial sequence of consonants and accent is repeated. An extreme possibility is the following line of Dafydd ap Gwilym's The Girls of Llanbadarn, where only one syllable is involved:

Pla / ar holl ferched y plwyf! ["A plague on all the girls of the parish!"]^[7]

This kind, in which only the first and last syllables have matching consonants, is known as cynghanedd draws fantach ["gap-toothed cynghanedd draws"].^[40]

When the word at the end of a half-line starts with a vowel, even a single consonant, preceding or following the stressed vowel, may be enough to satisfy the rules of cynghanedd draws, as in this line describing a woodcock:

O adar / gaeaf ydiw ["It is one of the birds of winter"]^[25]

Pronunciation of consonants

As noted above, the pronunciation takes precedence over spelling. In the following line from Dafydd ap Gwilym, ⟨ph⟩ corresponds to ⟨ff⟩, and ⟨d+t⟩ corresponds to ⟨d+d⟩:

A'i phryd teg / yn lle'r ffrwd dau. ["And her fair form in place of your flood"]^[41]

The separate letters ⟨r⟩ and ⟨h⟩ can correspond to voiceless ⟨rh⟩, as in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym:

Ar hyd / y du grimp a' r rhew ["Along the dark ridge and the ice"]^[10]

In early poetry, ac "and" and nac "nor" were always pronounced with /g/,^[42] so these lines from Dafydd ap Gwilym have the consonant patterns {G [stress] D} and {G [stress] N}:

Ac adar / aml ar goedydd ["And many birds on trees"]^[39]

Nac unnos / o Forgannwg ["Nor (will I go) a single night from Glamorgan"]^[43]

Exceptional types

Occasionally cynghanedd draws can apparently spread over two lines, as in the couplet below from Dafydd ap Gwilym, addressed to the River Dyfi, where the pattern {M Ll [stress] Dd} is repeated in the first part of the second line. In addition the first line has a shortened cynghanedd lusg and the second has cynghanedd sain:

Ni' m lladdo / rhyfel / gelyn ["An enemy's war will not slay me..."
O' m lluddiud / i dud / y dyn "If you prevent me from (reaching) that girl's land"]^[41]

This type, where consonants from the first line of couplet are echoed in the second line, is known as cymeriad cynghaneddol.^[44]

In another type of consonantal cynghanedd, the cynghanedd applies in the centre of the line only. This is called cynghanedd braidd gyffwrdd (or gyfwrdd) ["cynghanedd barely touching"].^[45] It was common in earlier Welsh poetry but is not often found in Dafydd ap Gwilym and later poets. The following two lines both come from the same poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym in which he describes how while making love outdoors in winter he and his girlfriend were disturbed by a woodcock:

A fu ddim, / ddamwain breiddfyw ["Was there ever anything, season barely living"]^[25]

Gwnaeth fraw, / frychleidr anghyfrwys ["It caused a fright, the unsubtle speckled thief"]^[25]

Linked cynghanedd sain

Just as with cynghanedd groes, a consonant can be borrowed from the end of the previous part of the line to make up the pattern of consonants in the following part. So in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym, the consonant pattern {F [stress] N} in -f ann- in part 3 is made by borrowing the ⟨f⟩ from the end of part two:

Oni chaf / fwynaf_/_annerch ["If I do not receive a most gentle greeting"]^[9]

In the following line, the final word needs ⟨n⟩ from the end of brynhawn to make the double alliteration {NH [stress]}. The word brynhawn "afternoon" is stressed on the second syllable,^[51] so that in both words the letters ⟨nh⟩ come before the stress:

Rhwng gras a dawn / brynhawn_/_hwyr ["By grace and the gift of a late afternoon"]

Similarly in the following line, the first in Dafydd's poem Summer, the consonant pattern {L [stress] Dd} in -l_eidd- and -l_Add- is made each time using the last letter of the previous section:

Gwae ni, hil _/_eiddil _/_Addaf ["Woe to us, feeble race of Adam"]^[52]

This implies that there is no pause at the place marked "/" following the rhyming syllable when the poem is sung or recited.

More complex types

More complex types of cynghanedd sain are possible. Occasionally there is consonant echoing between the first and second parts, as well as alliteration between the second and third. An example this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym:

Digrif fydd, / mau grefydd / grill! ["Pleasant it will be – birdsong is my worship! –"]^[39]

There are also some lines which could be read as both cynghanedd sain and cynghanedd draws; this kind is known as cynghanedd seindraws.^[53] For example:

Yno y gwŷs / difwyno gwedd ["There they know how to make a face ugly"]^[54]

Sometimes the line can be divided into four distinct sections, with rhyme between the first and third parts, and consonantal cynghanedd between the second and fourth. This is known as cynghanedd sain gadwynog.^[4] The following examples come from Dafydd ap Gwilym:

Gofiniad / braisg / geimiad / brwysg ["The question of a strong, fierce hero."]^[55]

Lleuad las / gron, / gwmpas / graen ["A round blue moon, a gloomy circle"]^[54]

The following line, from Dafydd ap Gwilym's Y Cleddyf ["The Sword"], has double cynghanedd sain, with two rhymes (ain ... ain, wydr ... wydr) and two alliterations (br ... br, tr ... tr):

Coelfain brain brwydr, / treiglgrwydr trin ["Rewarder of crows of battle, flowing interwoven pattern of war"]^[56]

The following, the first line of Dafydd ap Gwilym's Y Deildy ["The Leaf-House"], is classified as cynghanedd sain bengoll ["headless cynghanedd sain"],^[57] because the last part of the line is not part of the pattern. The second and third part of the line have the pattern {F [stress] R Dd}. The consonant pattern {F R} is heard again in the fourth section but with a different stress:

Heirdd / feirdd / f'eurddyn, / diledfeirw ["Handsome poets, my golden girl, and lively ones"]^[35]

Exceptional rhymes

Since ⟨ai⟩ in a final syllable of a word becomes ⟨ei⟩ in a penultimate syllable (for example, dail ["leaves"] vs. deilen ["a leaf"]),^[63] ⟨ai⟩ in a word-final syllable is considered to rhyme with ⟨ei⟩ in a penultimate one, as in this line by Dafydd ap Gwilym:

Draean noswaith / hyd neithwyr ["(I did not sleep) even a third of a night until last night"]^[55]

Similarly, since ⟨au⟩ in a final syllable becomes ⟨eu⟩ in a penultimate one (e.g. haul ["sun"] vs. heulog ["sunny"]), a final syllable with ⟨au⟩ rhymes with ⟨eu⟩ in a penultimate one:

Ac yntau / a ddechreuawdd ["And it was he who began"]^[64]

Similarly, ⟨y⟩ (pronounced [ɨ]) in a final syllable rhymes with ⟨y⟩ (pronounced [ə]) in a penultimate one:^[65]

Ai hir gennyd / yr ydwyd? ["Is it long that you have been longing?"]^[66]

Fy ngwas gwych, / ni'th fradychir ["My fine servant, you will not be betrayed"]^[67]

Some authors, however, regard the rhyming of the two pronunciations of ⟨y⟩ as incorrect,^[58] and after the time of Dafydd ap Gwilym it was mostly avoided.

Occasionally it is possible for cynghanedd lusg and cynghanedd groes to be combined in the same line, as in this example from the 15th-century poet Dafydd Nanmor, which combines the rhyme -yr ... -yr with the echoed consonants {L Th [stress] R}:

Lwyth eryr / o lythyrau ["An eagle-load of letters"]^[68]