Hedd Wyn's -The Hero: A Modern Rendition of Hedd Wyn's Ode Yr Arwr

by Michael Dante, Jenni Wyn Hyatt (Translator)

Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn died at the Battle of Passchendaele in July 1917; only weeks before his iconic poem 'Yr Arwr' (The Hero) won the Chair at the National Eisteddfod -Birkenhead. On announcing him as winner, and his passing the chair went on to be known as the 'Black Chair' and a nation went into mourning. Now, a little over a hundred years since his passing, the poets masterpiece can be read fully translated and adapted from the original Welsh into English. This winning ode tells the sorry of two estranged lovers, searching for each other in a land decimated by slavery and cruelty, an analogy to the war which Hedd Wyn was resistant to. This modern poem deals with the age old struggle for peace and enlightenment in a world torn apart by war and savagery. The poem is as current today, as it was in 1917, setting Hedd Wyn amongst the greatest poet of his generation and deserves to be read on par with his contemporaries Wilfred Owen, and Siegfried Sassoon; and be regognised as one of Wales most prominent welsh poets.

163 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2021