GDG 28; SPDG 20.

This is one of two poems about the thrush attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym in the manuscripts, and it is most likely that both describe the song thrush (see introductory notes to poem 49). The imagery of this poem is varied, including an ecclesiastical theme reminiscent of 'Offeren y Llwyn' (poem 39), but the dominant image is that of the pencerdd, a master of both music and poetry, specifically in the field of love poetry. The term awdur (lines 11 and 24) is particularly significant because this is an original composer and one who teaches songs to the other woodland birds.

Although this poem is attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym in numerous manuscripts, it is simpler in style and more impersonal in its treatment of the subject than poem 49, and it is unlikely that the two are the work of the same poet. This is probably a deliberate imitation of Dafydd's nature poetry, containing several clear echoes of his work.

6. plethiad   Cf. 'Y Gainc', 91.6, where this term is used to describe a method of playing the harp.

18. ymryson   a contention for a bardic chair or degree, see introductory notes to the ymryson between Dafydd ap Gwilym and Gruffudd Gryg.

21. Ofydd   the Latin poet Ovid, master of love poetry, see 95.1n.

29–30. adar Paradwys   Cf. 40.29. These are imagined as reciters attempting to learn the work of a master poet off by heart in order to perform it (see line 24 above).