Gwenallt (Llyfr ffoto 376B)
It thrills me every time I read a poem that has been written in the hand of the poet that created it. The handwriting conveys so much more than what is transferred in a printed copy. Drafts of a poem can show how the poet worked on the poem by rejecting an adjective here, or changing the rhyming pattern there. Philip Larkin referred to this value in literary manuscripts as ‘magical value’.
The television series Gwlad Beirdd currently on S4C gives us new insights into the life and work of a number of Welsh bards, and tries to look afresh at the words. The words form patterns on the screen, and become integrated into the landscape of the poet’s locality. The programmes discuss R. Williams Parry, Waldo, Crwys, Cynan, Eifion Wyn, T. Llew Jones, T. H. Parry Williams, Hedd Wyn, Gwenallt, and T. Gwynn Jones, many of whose archives we have at the National Library.
The television company Apollo have been researching and filming at the National Library, and the highlight of each program for me is seeing some of our most iconic and famous poems in the original manuscript. Words that are free of any meaning put into them later by an editor or literary critic, and a testimonial of what was in the mind of the poet at that moment.
For more information on the archives of poets and writers at NLW visit our website www.llgc.org.uk/authors
Nia Mai Daniel