Poem
Elin Ap Hywel
Flower
Sharon's a sad bag. Spiky, screwed up,folded in on herself
in a tough brown shell
like the bark
autumn's last conker.
Some say she has a pretty smile
though it's rare — tell the truth, it's prettier
for being scarce like rain in a desert
but nobody' s seen
her petals unfold
for quite a while.
But give her a drop to drink
when the weather’s right, in the monsoon season —
tears, or gin, or tempest water —
she explodes,
a cupful of dew and roses,
turns her plump, smooth face to the rain
and drinks, fearless, from the eye of the storm.
© Translation: 2003, Bloodaxe Books
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books, , 2003
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books, , 2003
Blodyn
Blodyn
BLODYNUn swrth yw Sharon. Un bigog, un grin
sydd wedi plygu amdani hi’i hun
yn blisgyn di-ildio, brown
fel rhisgl
castanwydden ola'r hydref.
Mae rhai yn dweud bod ei gwên yn hardd
er yn brin — yn wir, mae'n harddach
o fod fel dŵr mewn anialwch,
ond y gwir amdani yw
na welodd neb ei phetalau gwiw
ers blwyddyn neu ddwy.
Ond rhowch ddiferyn iddi
ar y diwrnod iawn, ym mis tywydd mawr —
deigryn, neu jin, neu law taranau,
ac mi ffrwydrith yn Ilond cwpan o rosyn gwlithog
sy'n troi ei hwyneb llyfn tua'r Ilif
ac yn sugno'n hy o lygad y storm.
© 2003, Bloodaxe Books
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books,
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: Bloodaxe Books,
Elin Ap Hywel
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1962)
Elin ap Hywel (1962) is a poet, translator and editor who works in Welsh and English. Formerly a translator for the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Elin’s published work has been widely anthologised and translated into Czech, English, German, Italian and Japanese.
Poems
Poems of Elin Ap Hywel
Close
Flower
Sharon's a sad bag. Spiky, screwed up,folded in on herself
in a tough brown shell
like the bark
autumn's last conker.
Some say she has a pretty smile
though it's rare — tell the truth, it's prettier
for being scarce like rain in a desert
but nobody' s seen
her petals unfold
for quite a while.
But give her a drop to drink
when the weather’s right, in the monsoon season —
tears, or gin, or tempest water —
she explodes,
a cupful of dew and roses,
turns her plump, smooth face to the rain
and drinks, fearless, from the eye of the storm.
© 2003, Bloodaxe Books
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: 2003, Bloodaxe Books,
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: 2003, Bloodaxe Books,
Flower
Sharon's a sad bag. Spiky, screwed up,folded in on herself
in a tough brown shell
like the bark
autumn's last conker.
Some say she has a pretty smile
though it's rare — tell the truth, it's prettier
for being scarce like rain in a desert
but nobody' s seen
her petals unfold
for quite a while.
But give her a drop to drink
when the weather’s right, in the monsoon season —
tears, or gin, or tempest water —
she explodes,
a cupful of dew and roses,
turns her plump, smooth face to the rain
and drinks, fearless, from the eye of the storm.
© 2003, Bloodaxe Books
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: 2003, Bloodaxe Books,
From: The Bloodaxe Book of Modern Welsh Poetry: 20th century Welsh-language poetry in translation
Publisher: 2003, Bloodaxe Books,
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