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Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn died at the Battle of Passchendaele in July 1917; only weeks before his iconic poem 'Yr Arwr' (The Hero) won the Chair at the National Eisteddfod -Birkenhead. On announcing him as winner, and his passing the chair went on to be known as the 'Black Chair' and a nation went into mourning. Now, a little over a hundred years since his passing, the poets masterpiece can be read fully translated and adapted from the original Welsh into English.
This winning ode tells the sorry of two estranged lovers, searching for each other in a land decimated by slavery and cruelty, an analogy to the war which Hedd Wyn was resistant to. This modern poem deals with the age old struggle for peace and enlightenment in a world torn apart by war and savagery.
The poem is as current today, as it was in 1917, setting Hedd Wyn amongst the greatest poet of his generation and deserves to be read on par with his contemporaries Wilfred Owen, and Siegfried Sassoon; and be regognised as one of Wales most prominent welsh poets.
About the author
Michael Dante is a poet working with some of Wales' most famous writers and regularly performs his work with the Word Distillery Poets. He has edited and contributed to the Word Distillery anthology, 'Distillations', and self published a number of his poetry collections.
Jenni Wyn Hyatt, grew up in Wales, and studied at the University of Aberystwyth. She went into teaching and on took up poetry on retirement joining the Diversify poetry group, and regularly performing her work. She has published two poetry collections 'Perhaps One Day' and 'Striped Scarves and Coal Dust', as well as having a number of poems published in various publications. She enjoys the translating Welsh poems to English while attempting to retain their rhyme scheme and metre.
