4 - Yr Eos
Day 4 of #NaPoWriMo and I made a spreadsheet to give me random prompts of form and topic. While testing it out the other night, it gave me โBlank Verseโ and โRhiannonโ, who happens to be one of my favourite mythological figures. (I was once cast as her in an audiodrama and I nearly expired of excitement โ the title for this came about because the sound designer used nightingale birdsong behind my voice.) She has no connection to inspiration/ the awen that I know of, being a shrewd stateswoman and strong woman associated with horses and sovereignty (and sarcasm), but her advice to go slow and her association with (healing) birdsong turned into an exploration of patience in association with creativity. And I thoroughly ignored the notion of blank verse and used a series of chained clogyrnachau insteadโฆ
If youโre subscribed to my Patreon, you can hear an exclusive recording of this (and other things) read aloud. The recording is here.
---
She is still with us, donโt you know?
She tells us: โTake your time, be slowโฆ
โThe trees are heavy
โwith birds, so merry.
โListen, let the words flow.
โChild, the muse exacts no levy,
โthe fruit comes in its time, very
โgenerous and true,
โbecause it is you,
โand creationโs messy!
โCariad, take the longer view:
โthe words will come out when theyโre due.
โIf shy, you must coax,
โnot lash them to yokes.
โTrust in patient virtue.โ
Her voice lingers beyond the oaks,
I close my eyes, let it invoke
magic, sweet and slow
(sheโs still here, you know).
Let her guide my penstrokes.
Image from the Lady Charlotte Guest translation of The Mabinogion, by S. Williams, via Wikipedia
If youโd like to try out a clogyrnach or two, why not use my Repeating and Concrete Forms spreadsheet, which also has some syllable-counting forms like this, to help you?
dlvr.it
Camlann ๐ฅ| Live Show Tickets on Sale Now!@camlannpod.bsky.social ยท 2d ago
