especially the poetry of almost every other nation and people, and should
feel greater interest in reading those of the aborigines of this country,
with whom we have so much in common." It was to gratify this wish that
the Editor was induced to give his services in the present undertaking,
from which he has received and will receive no pecuniary benefit; and his
sole recompense will be the satisfaction of having attempted to extend
and perpetuate some of the treasures and beauties of the literature of
his native country.




INTRODUCTION.


The literature of a people always reflects their character. You may
discover in the prose and poetry of a nation its social condition, and in
their different phases its political progress. The age of Homer was the
heroic, in which the Greeks excelled in martial exploits; that of Virgil
found the Romans an intellectual and gallant race; the genius of Chaucer,
Spencer and Sidney revelled in the feudal halls and enchanted vistas of
the middle ages; Shakespeare delineated the British mind in its grave and
comic moods; Milton reflected the sober aspect and spiritual aspirations
of the Puritanical era; while at later periods Pope, Goldsmith and Cowper
pourtrayed the softer features of an advanced civilization and milder
times.

Following the same rule, the history of Wales is its literature. First
came the odes and triads, in which the bards recited the valour,
conquests and hospitality of their chieftains, and the gentleness, beauty