Greg Hill : Cerddi a Throsiadau / Poems and Translations
  • HOME
  • COMBROGES
  • TRANSLATIONS
  • Mabinogi
  • Special Events and Commissions
  • Myddleton's River
  • Old Man's Beard
  • Messages
  • Night Voices
  • Yn Gymraeg




 Gwydion and Gilfaethwy
 
To change a man into a stag,
a boar, a wolf and to change
another man to be a bitch, a sow, a deer
was a punishment to each of them for rape.

Judged for this inhuman act,
banished from humanity for a time
in these guises, and for another stretch
with roles reversed each knew the other

As a rutting beast and bore a child.
Brought back home again to live
with men and women, their offspring reared
as humans but called ‘Staggy’, ‘Rutter’, ‘Wolfy’

They were redeemed to humanity, called back
again to community; this primitive tale
telling us how to value who and what we are
besides the beasts who share the earth with us.


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.