The Trout

THE TROUT

Y Brithyll

 

Swimmer in praise, gleaming trout,

Bright of discourse, fast as thought,

Fearless fish, feeding aflow,

Currents above, deeps below,

Swirling foundling, foster fish

Of Llyn Tegid, full of flesh,

Swim the Conwy, scry the stream,

Seek the highland, scales agleam.

 

None but you, water-father,

Serves me still: out of favour,

Exiled, spurned, sent from sight.

Swim the Tâf’s wave of light,

Valiant, immune to steel,

Undrownable, never still,

Speechless, breathless current-wender,

Cryptic shadow under water.

You do not need, by great God

To fear fly or willow rod.

Poet’s stalwart, spawn of Môn,

Flowing river’s talisman,

Torrent-fish of flux and flood,

Foam-rider, staunch of blood,

Ransom of the landing net,

Glimpsed by vagrants in the wet,

Twist and slither, snap two snares,

Short and sleek, free from cares,

Go by grace, be not taken.

For my heart, take this token:

A loving pledge – lithe fish, slender –

May I give the slip to slander!

 

To Creirwy’s court, by my whim,

Go forthwith, then cease to swim.

Handless go, as to heaven;

Footless, return to haven.

Linger not by ford nor burn;

Bring fishy tales when you return.

 

- Attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym; paraphrased by Giles Watson. Most of the fourteen manuscripts of this poem attribute it to Dafydd; the remainder do not name a poet. Recent scholars have questioned Dafydd’s authorship, and although none of the manuscripts name him, Gruffudd Gryg (writing c. 1357-70) has been suggested. Llyn Tegid is Bala Lake, Meirionnydd, north-west Wales. Conwy is the name of a river as well as a town. The river Tâf flows southwards through Carmarthenshire, emptying into the sea at Laugharne. ‘The Trout’ is a traditional llatai poem in which a non-human agency is called upon to act as a love messenger. The poet’s beloved, Creirwy, is also traditional: a beauty whose name appears in Hanes Taliesin and in the Triads. I have taken certain liberties with meaning in order to preserve some of the tone and rhythm of the original. In particular, I have reversed the meaning of the phrase “croyw awdur o Fôn” (founder of Môn), since the meaning is rather obscure, and “spawn of Môn” seems to suit a fish. For metrical reasons I have also left out a phrase, “Deifr ni’th feiddian”, translated by Fulton: “the men of Deira cannot defy you”, which in context probably means that the trout is immune to attacks from the English.

 

Done