|
The Memorial
1923–2023 This town has so long faced the sea, I swear its rooftops roll and thunder And pitch up and under in mimicry. Look out from high windows, tiles That glint and undulate will have you Gasping for a view of far off hills. Fix your eyes on the headland where An angel pirouettes upon A needle point, as great storms dare In vain to blow away her wreath, A ring of leaves that shows the way To vessels swaying in the teeth Of winds and waves below. The heart now crosses the sea of life And in its sights holds hope. |
This is a poem to the impressive war memorial on the castle peninsula in Aberystwyth. One hundred years ago, in 1923, the monument by the renowned sculptor Mario Rutelli was opened to mark the sacrifice of the soldiers of the Great War. The only way to ensure that the same atrocities cannot happen again is by making peace a priority.
I'd like to thank Aberystwyth Town Council for commissioning the poem as part of the Town Poet project, also photographer and film maker Scott Waby for producing the video below with the Welsh poem, and councilor Emlyn Jones for bringing it all together. The original Welsh fersiwn is available here: Y Gofeb | Medi 2023. It's also a privilege to have the poem recently translated into Mandarin and Dutch. The Mandarin version, translated by Professor Xingguo Li, can be heard on the video below. The Dutch version, translated by Margriet Boleij and Mary Burdett-Jones, is available here: https://lluniadau.com/nl/elementor-3663/.
Cerdd i'r gofeb ryfel drawiadol ar bentir y castell yn Aberystwyth, a gomisiynwyd gan Gyngor Tref Aberystwyth i nodi canmlwyddiant y gofeb. Clicia fan hyn i ddarllen y gerdd Gymraeg wreiddiol: Y Gofeb | Medi 2023. At hynny, mae'n fraint cael y gerdd wedi ei chyfieithu'n ddiweddar i'r iaith Fandarin ac i'r Iseldireg. Mae'r fersiwn Mandarin, a gyfieithwyd gan yr Athro Xingguo Li, i'w glywed ar y fideo uchod. Mae'r fersiwn Iseldireg, a gyfieithwyd gan Margriet Boleij a Mary Burdett-Jones, ar gael fan hyn: lluniadau.com/nl/elementor-3663/.
|