Giles Watson's poetry and prose
Her False Oath
The whole thing is here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq-wPtE8F8I
I changed the last line unconsciously during the reading, and ended up deciding that I preferred it.
Her False Oath
Llw Gau
Wanton girl who beamed and lied
With casual oath, and denied
Our dalliance on the Cross,
Spurned my favours – to her loss –
And claimed – peril on her soul –
My naked limb did not steal
Her eager touch! Though she be loth
Enid must take back her oath!
Yes, yes, poet’s hand did grip
That poet’s gift. Yes, the lip!
Yes, breasts, beneath birchy wood,
Yes, arms! Behold – it was good –
Yes, every quaking member,
Yes, wantonness! Remember?
A barefaced liar, beggar you!
God knows! There’s nought we didn’t do!
Source material: Poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym, paraphrased by Giles Watson. One of Dafydd’s shortest poems, and one of a handful which are more or less sexually explicit. Enid is not the girl’s name, but a conventional title for a woman of exceptional beauty.
Her False Oath
The whole thing is here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq-wPtE8F8I
I changed the last line unconsciously during the reading, and ended up deciding that I preferred it.
Her False Oath
Llw Gau
Wanton girl who beamed and lied
With casual oath, and denied
Our dalliance on the Cross,
Spurned my favours – to her loss –
And claimed – peril on her soul –
My naked limb did not steal
Her eager touch! Though she be loth
Enid must take back her oath!
Yes, yes, poet’s hand did grip
That poet’s gift. Yes, the lip!
Yes, breasts, beneath birchy wood,
Yes, arms! Behold – it was good –
Yes, every quaking member,
Yes, wantonness! Remember?
A barefaced liar, beggar you!
God knows! There’s nought we didn’t do!
Source material: Poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym, paraphrased by Giles Watson. One of Dafydd’s shortest poems, and one of a handful which are more or less sexually explicit. Enid is not the girl’s name, but a conventional title for a woman of exceptional beauty.