Notes

GDG 48

This poem is famous for its ironic self–mockery. Dafydd's persona is that of the frustrated lover, the shameless womanizer who is rejected by the girls of his own parish in spite of past conquests. Although less than respectful behaviour was not unusual during mass, it was bold of Dafydd to set this particular misadventure in his parish church, his face turned towards an attractive girl and the back of his head towards God, that is to say towards the altar, one of the most sacred parts of the building. It has been suggested that the girl in question is Morfudd; she and her husband, Bwa Bach, may have lived in Penrhyn–coch near Brogynin in the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr (see Bowen, 1982, 78-9). In another poem, 'Love's Needles' (100), Dafydd speaks of casting lustful eyes over Morfudd's body whichever church she attends, and claims to have had more success in the past with some of the other girls of his parish. It may indeed be Morfudd who caused his gaze to stray from the altar in the present poem, though it is apparently another Llanbadarn girl whom he meets on the moor by chance in the poem 'A Stubborn Girl' (143). She promises to meet him in Llanbadarn Church or at the tavern but breaks her word, leaving Dafydd frustrated once more.

Whilst a love–tryst set in a church is common enough in medieval literature (see Edwards, DGIA 246), Dafydd's treatment of the motif is characteristically original. The poem contains some clever word–play, including Y mab llwyd (29) (that pallid — literally 'grey' — lad) which echoes the poet's full name, Dafydd Llwyd fab Gwilym Gam. The name is no doubt played upon once more in the final line, in the verb pengamu (to become wry–necked), which echoes the verb plygu (to bend) in the poem's opening line, an audacious parody of the act of praying which is what Dafydd ought to be doing in a religious service. The poet is more interested in his own vain, coquettish appearance and in the pleasures of the flesh than in the good of his soul. Just as in 'Trouble at an Inn' (73), much of the poem's humour stems from the way in which Dafydd is belittled and punished for his lust and worldly pride. Both poems may be read as playful parodies of the type of moral exempla common in medieval sermons.

The poem is discussed in detail by D.J. Bowen, 'Cywydd Dafydd ap Gwilym i ferched Llanbadarn a'i gefndir', YB xii (1982), 77–122. See also Bowen's remarks in B xxv, 23–4; LlC xiv, 197–9. For a more recent discussion see Bleddyn Owen Huws, ' "Dros fy mhlu ar draws fy mhlwyf": golwg newydd ar "blu" Dafydd ap Gwilym', Dwned 10 (2004), 33–55.

1. llid   'Wrath', but also 'passion'.

15. Garwy   The legendary figure Garwy Hir, father of Indeg and lover of Creirwy according to the poets, see TYP 354–5.

24. dros fy mhlu   'Over my feathers', usually taken to mean the feathers in Dafydd's hat. Huws (2004) suggests that these are metaphorical feathers, representing either the poet's pride or, more likely, his beard or long locks of hair lying on his shoulder, cf. 31.60.

30.    A similar description of the poet is recorded in a sixteenth–century manuscript, see Introduction: 'Y Bardd', 1–2. As Huws notes (2004, 53–4), long hair could be considered a sign of pride and sexual promiscuity in the Middle Ages.

35. rheg   'Curse', but also 'gift'.

42. drych   Translated as 'sight' (i.e. spectacle), but another meaning, 'exemplar, example', is equally apt.