An update from my precious post ” A Sunken Kingdom”
THE BELLS OF CANTRE’R GWAELOD (Translated by Dyfed Lloyd Evans)
This is the poem which children in Wales learn about the Sunken Kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod, swallowed by the sea and drowned forever after. On a quiet night legend has it, one can hear the church bells ringing.
Welsh Girl wearing the traditional costume.
POEM
Beneath the wave- swept ocean
are pretty towns
That hearkened to the bell-rings
set pealing through the night
Through negligent abandon
by a watcher on the wall
The bells of Cantre’r Gwaelod
submerged beneath the wave
When the sea was surging
with gales upon the wave
The gull, so pale, was failing
to settle on their crest
When waves crashed on the sea-shore
with thunder in its wake
The bells of Cantre’r Gwaelod
are silent near the wave
But when the sea is quiet
with waves that aren’t foam-flecked
and day is gently slipping
behind the far-hills slope
sweet tones are heard a-rising
and this I know as truth
The bells of Cantre’r Gwaelod
are sounding near the wave
O! ring out bells of childhood
on oceans salty floor for early strains
of living sound in their song for me
Whilst live the shore, I’ll think of
on many quiet nights and bells of Cantre’r Gwaelod
still ringing near the wave.
Welsh Folk in days gone by. No doubt discussing the tale of The Bells of Cantre’r Gwaelod