For those of us who aren't Welsh: Ivy is the embodiment of underworld goddess Rhiannon, Alban Arthan is the winter solstice, Beli Mawr is the sun, Dewi Sant is Saint David, Llelwellyn the Last is the last king of Wales, Cymru is Wales, Edward of England hated Celts and conquered Wales, Pantycelyn was the greatest Welsh Methodist hymn writer and author of Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch (guide me o thou great redeemer, pilgrim through this barren land).
Winter Solstice in Wales
The ivy hangs green on the oak
This dark December day
Of leafless trees and dripping berries
She the goddess Rhiannon
Slayer of the mighty
Glossy tendrils drawing us
To her dark underworld.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when druids woke to Alban Arthan
And upon stone circle
Beli Mawr, the sun god, birthed anew.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when Romans mined the gold and tin
As she hung when the ground rose 'neath Dewi Sant
And white dove settled on his blessed shoulder.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when the trees were in turmoil
At the death of Llelwellyn the Last
Head severed from his body.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when Edward's army
Stormed across the Marches
And Cymru fell to England.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when Pantycelyn sang
'Guide me O Thou great Redeemer'
And Rhiannon lay hidden
Under barren coalfields.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when villages emptied
And Welsh hymns rang
Through Colorado coal mines.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when Wilfred Owen
Found the pity war distills
In horror of the trenches.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
As she did when blackout paper
Covered lighted windows
And bombs rained down on Cardiff.
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The ivy hangs green on the oak
Today, when the seasons falter
Faery folk forgotten
Sellafield plutonium
Poisoning Irish Sea
Nuclear warheads ready
For ultimate destruction.
From Rhiannon's dark womb
What rebirth awaits us?
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