Geiriau yn eich clust

Llongyfarchiadau i Ifor ap Glyn, sydd wedi cael ei benodi fel Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru gan yr Academi Gymreig – y pedwerydd Bardd Cenedlaethol ar ôl Gwyneth Lewis (2005-06), Gwyn Thomas (2006-08) a Gillian Clarke (2008-16). What better way to mark the occasion than a sonnet:

To bring yr hen iaith to a global stage
Yet promote our poetic riches here,
To guard a besieged culture without rage
Yet persuade the hostile to hold it dear,
To show the Cymro there’s no need to cringe
Yet look our abject status in the eye,
To banish the self-defeating Welsh whinge,
Yet give a reason why we should not cry.
These are the mountains that you now must scale,
Equipped with only hope and energy,
These are the hardened hearts beyond the pale
That somehow must be melted and made free.
Pob lwc! Help save Cymraeg before it’s gone!
Defend our world and pass the baton on!