Hiraeth or Longing for God by William Williams Pantycelyn

A hymn sung to the words of a poem by William Williams, whose bardic name was Pantycelyn. The simplicity of his poem and the thought that a dear friend and beloved one is waiting patiently for me while I am anxious for Him to bring peace to my soul has moved me for many years. The pictures are from my travels and represent dear places to me. My apologies for the poor Welsh pronunciation, especially in the first verse. This is a new song for me and I didnt realize the errors until I had completed the video.

'Rwy'n edrych, dros y bryniau pell,
Amdanat bob yr awr;
Tyr'd, fy Anwlyd, mae'n hwyr-hau,
A'm haul bron mynd i lawr.

I gaze upon those distant hills,
And seek Thee every hour,
Come, my beloved, daylight fades,
My sun has reache'd his bow'r.

Trodd fy nghariadau oll i gyd
'Nawr ynb anffyddlon im'
Ond yr wyf finniau'n hyfrd glaf
O gariad mwy ei rym

Draw Thou my longing and my love
From False and earthly ways,
To that one clear and changeless mark,
That ever faithful stays"

the last verse is not sung here, but:

Tyn fy serchiadau'n gryno iawn
Oddi wrth wrthyrychau gau,
At yr un gwrthrych ag sydd fyth
Yn ffyddlon yn parhau;

No state beneath this azure sky
Can hold me more in thrall,
for my delight henceforth shall be,
In God's immortal halls.
The tune is by Daniel Protheroe

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• world
• music
• religious
• Welsh
• Hiraeth
• Cymraeg

[VoceVersatile]

Thanks for this, Richard - most moving. My grancher (taid) o BenyGroes, Caernarfon, used to sing pieces by Pantycelyn - always in a minor key, of course. I seem to remember 'Beth sydd i mi yn y Byd?' and its tune. 'Jesu, lover of my soul' yn saesneg ? Diolch yn fawr hefyd.

[griffcats]

jesus lover of my soul I have always thought was to the tune of Aberystwyth, in our old hymnal, a favourite of mine. I should probably sing some more hymns on here some day. My Taid sang songs like Bach Mochyn Du, not hymns, though! Maybe we'll find that one on here some day

[gwyddno1]

Pantycelyn (or, more correctly, Pant-y-celyn) was actually the name of his home, near the village of Pentre-tŷ-gwyn in the parish of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn, Carmarthenshire (some 3 or 4 miles from Llanymddyfri/Llandovery). He's known as Pantycelyn in order to distinguish him from other William Willamses.