Cymru, My Wales [ancestral homeland]

Ghazal Form (see Author's Note) Cymru = Wales (ie) "Wales, My Wales"

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.....Cymru, My Wales

Proud land of song and greenest vales,

one’s heart is filled with olden tales,
its flag with dragon, flying high …

beautiful, my beloved Wales.

Tired miners blackened from the pit,

singing still of beloved Wales.

Daffodils ’n leeks crowd your hills;

calling home, dear beloved Wales.

Welsh mountains tall, my roots run deep

… named Rishardt, by beloved Wales.

Rascal Jenkins

© 22 Dec 2003

(in Welsh)

Cymru, Fy Cymru

Gwlad falch o gân a dyffrynnoedd gwyrddaf,

mae calon rhywun yn llawn hen chwedlau,

ei faner gyda draig, yn hedfan yn uchel ...

hardd, fy anwyl Cymru.

Mwyngloddwyr blinedig yn duo o'r pwll,

canu llonydd o Cymru annwyl.

Cennin pedr ’n cennin dyrfa dy fryniau;

galw adref, anwyl anwyl Cymru.

Mynyddoedd Cymru yn dal, mae fy ngwreiddiau'n rhedeg yn ddwfn

… a enwyd Rishardt, gan Cymru annwyl.

Direidus Jenkins

© 22 Rhag 2003

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Author's Note

"GHAZAL"
(gŭ-zŏll)
Details:
The Ghazal is composed of five couplets, no more than fifteen …
that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally autonomous.
Each line of the poem must be of the same syllable length;
though, meter is not imposed in English.
The first verse is a Quatrain in couplets, introducing a scheme made up of an "a" rhyme,
followed by a couplet refrain, with the last line rhyming with the first two.
—·•·—
Subsequent couplets pick up the same scheme in the second line only,
repeating the refrain and rhyming the second line with the fourth line of the first stanza.
The final couplet usually includes the poet’s signature, referring to the author in the first or third person, and often including the poet’s name, or a derivation of its meaning.
HISTORY
Traditionally, invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, Ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani musicians.
The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the
thirteenth and fourteenth century, thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz.
In the 18th-century, Ghazals were used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian.
Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.
Other languages that adopted the Ghazal include Hindi, Pashto, Turkish, and Hebrew.
The German poet and philosopher, Goethe, experimented with the form,
as did the Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca.
Indian musicians such as Ravi Shankar and Begum Akhtar popularized
the Ghazal in the English-speaking world during the 1960s. However,
it was the poet, Agha Shahid Ali, who introduced it, in its classical form, to Americans.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons: Snowdonia Mountains, Northern Wales

Please, offer any constructive critique you believe will help better this piece.
Diolch yn fawr am ddarllen.
[Thank you very much for reading].
✍

Reviews

[Kathy Van Kurin]

Hi Richard,
I just wanted to wish you good and congratulations on your retirement. Good for you! I hope that you will be happy and enjoy this season you are now in. Yes I did read above poem and the notes too. As always it was educational and so refreshing. My ancestry is a mystery. Some is known and some not. It's so cool to know that yours is realized. Bless you bunches.
Kathy

[Richard🖌]

Happiest hugs 'n blessings, Lady Kathy 🌾

Thank you ever-so gratefully for wishing me "good and congratulations" on my retirement as a humble teacher of poetry.
How wonderfully warm and personal your lovely words embrace a grateful bard's spirits … they sing like a gracefully penned psalm.
To me, M'Dear, it is important to know from whence we came, that we'll better understand our primal, inbred sources of deepest inner nature in those aspects of life, feelings, art, flora, fauna,and folk, etc; we're most naturally drawn toward.
That you think of my notes as "educational and refreshing" is a smile from mind and heart to the tips'a m'toes.

You're sooo lovely, Dear Lady-Poet 🎀
Happy Yuletide & 2024 … as always ⁓ Richard🖌

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Richard... I recently saw an Interview with Richard Burton where he spoke of how his father was a Miner in Wales. My Grandfather was a Miner in West Virginia, USA. It seems that Treasures are everywhere and we need the Earth to survive. Romantic adventures are penned for Prosperity. Poetic hearts are Treasures. softly, Pat

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[William Michael Reeves]

I like how you worked your signature into the last line. Our homes name us in many ways. We do grow into our names I believe. The Welsh translation spun my mind around in consonants, you Rascal!

I learned quite a bit about the form in your notes. When I first discovered Ghazal I had to discern the true requirements from a dozen different sources that all seemed to be different, not to mention the examples I read, including this a few months ago. I tried to find an average between all the descriptions and went with what came up most. Your description was helpful. I was close. The only real difference I read is a rhyme is repeated before each repeating phrase. I could go on for an hour about this form. I'm fascinated by it. I really appreciate the history of the form in your notes as well.

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[nastasimir]

Thank you Richard
A great poem dedicated to proud people and a fairy-tale land of Wales!

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[Carola]

hi richard
have been away from WC for a few months, & came to read another one of your poetic gems.
never been to wales, it looks beautiful but cold.
congratulations on being able to write in welsh a language that seems to mainly consist of consonants with a handful of vowels thrown in. i would imagine speaking it would be an even greater hurdle.
love your poems richard.
have a great week, cheerio carola

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[Susan 🦋]

Proud land for sure! (Just a quick hop over the Irish Sea and you'll be in my homeland) A lovely write, I can just picture those daffodils :-)

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[Lisasview]

Just went back to read this one of yours again... and loved it even more.
Lisa

[Richard🖌]

Thanks for the second bite, Lisa. : )

[Betty Hermelee]

Interesting prologue! A tribute to a beautiful country, as I have seen for myself....the words flow beautifully and the singing must be very special, if the miners (whose work is dangerous and difficult) can sing it... it's nationalistic, but who care if you love your country...that's what matters; the poetic style is lovely
Best, B

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[Lisasview]

Oh how I loved to read this one of yours...and I really loved reading your authors notes..
And, the photo is spectacular.
The way the words moved across the page felt like a song (ballad??) to me..
After reading your poem and beginning to leave a review I went back to read your authors notes and I see that Ghazals are often sung...so my thinking was correct...
I really loved this Richard,
Lisa

[Richard🖌]

I've fallen so far behind,

After my teaching retirement, being offline, and not commenting on reviews, I'm making a quick thank you to everyone for their wonderful input and feedback.

Big smiles 'n hugs to one and all! ⁓ Richard🖌

[Lisasview]

Wow, what fun to your wonderful comment!!
Lisa

[Richard🖌]

Not much, I know, but I was over 40 reviews behind (caught-up now) … sometimes, we just gotta bite the bullet and keep on keeping-on as best we see fit for the moment. 🚀

Having said all that, Lisa,
I love your always stellar reviews.
Thank you ever-so warmly, Dear Lady-Poet 🌺

[Lisasview]

Well, stellar reviews are the only type you deserve my dearest Richard
I meant what fun to read your wonderful comments...typing way too fast..
L