Byr
a Thoddaid (beer ah TOE-thy’d), one of the 24 traditional Welsh
stanza
forms, consists of four lines of syllable count 10-6-8-8
(or
8-8-10-6), rimed on last syllable except for the 10-syllable line,
which
has the main rime on the 7th, 8th, or 9th syllable with the
remainder
set off by dash and either rimed within the 6-syllable
line
or with its sequence of consonant-sounds repeated at the
start
of the 6-syllable line, as above.
This
poem has the Cynghanedd (consonance, harmony of sound)
required
of Welsh bards, as detailed here:
Specifically,
all but the last line of the first stanza
and
the penultimate line of the second have Cynghanedd lusg
(trailing
consonance), in which the accented penultimate syllable
of
the end-word is rimed earlier in the line
(the
part of each 10-syllable line after the dash being excluded);
S1L4
and S2L3, then, both have Cynghanedd groes (cross-consonance),
in
which the second part of the line repeats the sequence of
consonant
sounds in the first (end of last syllable of either
sequence
can be ignored, as can n, while w and y the Welsh treat as vowels).
This
form makes use of the gair cyrch in which the main rhyme appears somewhere near
the end of a longer line and the end word is a secondary rhyme. The secondary
rhyme is then echoed by alliteration or assonance in the first half of the next
line.
- stanzaic, written in any
number of quatrains made up of 2 couplets,
- syllabic, either L1-L2 8
syllables, L3 10 syllables L4 6 syllables, or the couplets are reversed L1
10 syllables, L2 6 syllables, L3-L4 8 syllables.
- rhymed, either AAbA with the
main rhyme A occurring somewhere near the end of L3 and the secondary
rhyme b echoed by alliteration or assonance in the first half of L4 or the
couplets are reversed bAAA.
Example
Poem
Potential
I
know that my life's potent-- gauged not small--
gives
notice of quotient
believed
not achieved to extent
that
make it thus, this man's intent .
Say
I, one day still invent-- mankind's balm--
Might
call on all unspent
forces
of mine formerly misspent
then
would I feel good and content?
© Lawrencealot - June 29,2012
Authors's Notes
This poem has the
Cynghanedd (consonance, harmony of sound)
required of Welsh
bards, as detailed here:
Specifically, all
but the last line of the first stanza
and the penultimate
line of the second have Cynghanedd lusg
(trailing
consonance), in which the accented penultimate syllable
of the end-word is rimed earlier in the line
(the part of each
10-syllable line after the dash being excluded);
S1L4 and S2L3, then,
both have Cynghanedd groes (cross-consonance),
in which the second part of the line repeats
the sequence of
consonant sounds in
the first (end of last syllable of either
sequence can be
ignored, as can n, while w and y the Welsh treat as vowels).
Please note the
correction suggested in the comments below and navigate there
for a fuller
treatment of this form.
This
correction by Gary Kent Spain, aka, Venicebard on Allpoetry.
You might want to
alter the Cynghanedd part of your AN here (lifted from one of my poems, which
is okay except it is inaccurate with respect to your poem) to reflect the
slightly looser form of Cynghanedd Groes (and echoing of the gair cyrch) you
have aimed for in this poem. The
following link gives for C. Groes the stipulation that all that is necessary is
repetition of the initial consonants of words, which is close to what you've
tried to do here:
Visual Template of sorts
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