me at the request of the Committee responsible for the Institution
Ceremony of the Prince of Wales at Carnarvon Castle.

Of the more modern Welsh poets represented in this volume let it be said
that Ceiriog (John Hughes), so called from his birth in the Ceiriog
Valley, is the Burns of Welsh Poetry. Against the spirit of gloom that
the Welsh Revival cast over the first half of the nineteenth century he
threw himself in sharp revolt. But while the joy of life wells up and
overflows in his song he was also, like all Welshmen, serious-minded,
as the specimens given in my translation from his works go to prove.

According to Professor Lewis Jones, no poem in the strict metre is more
read than Eben Farrd's "Dinistur Jerusalem" ("The Destruction of
Jerusalem"), translated into kindred verse in this volume, unless indeed
its popularity is rivalled by Hiraethog's ode on "Heddwch," ("Peace").
Two extracts from the former poem are dealt with, and Hiraethog is
represented by a beautiful fancy, "Love Divine," taken from his
"Emanuel."

Finally, three living poets are represented in the Welsh section--Elvet
Lewis by his stirring and touching "High Tide"; Eifion Wyn, upon whom
the mantle of Ceiriog has fallen, by two exquisitely simple and pathetic
poems, "Ora pro Nobis" and "A Flower-Sunday Lullaby"; and William John
Gruffydd, the bright hope of "Y Beirdd Newydd" ("The New Poets"), by his
poignant ballad of "The Old Bachelor of Ty'n y Mynydd."

There is no need for me to dwell upon the rest of the verse in this
volume beyond stating that "The Prodigal's Return" is a free translation
from a poem on that theme by an anonymous Scotch Gaelic Bard to be found
in Sinton's "The Poetry of Badenoch"; that "Let there be joy!" is