History:
One of four types of Cywydd, a Welsh metrical form originating in the 14th century, and one of three predominant Welsh metrical forms, the other two being the AwdlAn awdl was originally a poem of indeterminate length with a single end rhyme throughout, in a single meter. In the 12th century, The Poets of the Princes treated this iteration of the awdl as a poem in its own right, but by that time it was becoming more common for it to consist as one part of a larger... More, and the Englyn. The other three forms of Cywydd, as listed by Einion Offeiriad around 1320, are Cywydd Deuair Birion, Cywydd Deuair Fryion, and Cywydd Llosgyrnog.
Structure:
- quatrain (four line stanza) of seven syllable lines
- a stanza form
- Lines 2 and 4 rhyme
- Lines 1 and 3 cross-rhyme int the 3rd, fourth or fifth syllable of lines 2 and four
- The middle line rhyme in lines 1 and 3 function as a caesura in the line
- The mid-line rhymes can be various forms of half-rhyme, such as consonance or assonance. The main rhyme should be perfect
- The thing to remember about Welsh poetry is that the sonic aspect is central, to facilitate remembering it, which was the central function of the bard-remembering potentially hundreds or more of poems
- Here’s a possible scheme:
x x x x x x a
x x a x x x b
x x x x x x c
x x x x c x b
Sources:
http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/celtic2.html#awdlAn awdl was originally a poem of indeterminate length with a single end rhyme throughout, in a single meter. In the 12th century, The Poets of the Princes treated this iteration of the awdl as a poem in its own right, but by that time it was becoming more common for it to consist as one part of a larger... More
Koch, J. T. (2006). Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif. (ABC-CLIO): Cop.
Turco, L. (2012). The book of forms a handbook of poetics, including odd and invented forms. Hanover (New Hampshire): University Press of New England.