CHARACTERS. 



747 



Acted as perfeft models of Welch 

 poetry. He translated some of the 

 odes of Anacreon into Welsh verse; 

 of this attempt he modestly says, in 

 a letter to Mr. R. Morris, in his pe- 

 culiarly playful manner, " I have 

 lately taken a fancy to my old ac- 

 quaintance Anacreon ; and as he had 

 some haud in teaching me Greek, I 

 have endeavoured to make him talk 

 in Welsh, and that in metre, too." 

 His poetry consists chiefly of odes, 

 moral, serious, and religious ; but 

 his most celebrated performance is a 

 poem on the day of judgment, 

 " Cywydd y Farn fawr." The 

 ideas in this are so grand, and it is 

 throughout so crowded with poetic 

 images, as deservedly to raise it su- 

 perior to the works of any but a 

 few of- the most eminent bards. — He 

 had also a general knowledge of an- 

 tiquities, which, from his various 

 letters that are extant, he seems to 

 have pursued with considerable ar. 

 dour. 



A full chara6tor of the talents and 

 poetry of Goronwy Owen was 

 written by Mr. Lewis Morris to 

 Mr. Vaughn of Nannau, in the 

 hopes of obtaining for him some 

 preferment in the church. " I 

 wrote to you some time ago in be- 

 half of poor Goronwy Owen, the 

 greatest genius either of this age, or 

 that ever appeared in our country ; 

 and perhaps few other countries can 

 boast his equal for universal know- 

 ledge."—" 1 have two or three of 

 his poems, the best that ever were 

 written in our language (the Welsh), 

 and such as will endure so long as 

 there is good sense, good nature, 

 and good learning in the world. It 

 is a pity, and the greatest of pities, 

 that such a man as this, who is not 

 only the greatest of poets, but a 

 groat master of language, should la. 



bour under the hardship of keeping 

 a school, and serving a curacy, ia 

 the middle of Cam Saeson (Saxon 

 heap, the English people), and all 

 for the paltry income of twenty -six 

 pounds a year." — " I should like, 

 of all things, to have him in Meri- 

 onethshire; but he wishes to be in 

 Anglesea, his native country. I am 

 told you have some interest with the 

 bishop of Bangor; if you can get 

 this man a living, you will not onlv 

 make him immortal, but you will 

 make me immortal too; and if you 

 are hard-hearted enough to refuse 

 me immortality, when to be had on 

 such easy terms, I shall think yon 

 very cruel. My next letter shall 

 bring you " Cy wdd y Gem," which 

 is the last poem he has written : the 

 subject is a search for happiness. 

 Dedwyddyd (happiness) is the gem 

 he has searched for in all corners of 

 the world, and after a great manj 

 finedcscriptions, and researches with 

 the help of learning and philosophy, 

 after consulting the writings of So- 

 lomon and some others, he finds 

 that the gem is not among those on 

 crowns, mitres, and caps, nor, in 

 short, does he discover it any where 

 in the world. He then finds a book 

 written by another son of David, 

 which dire(5ts him where it is to be 

 found, and he gives a lively , de- 

 scription of the country (heaven). 

 This is the subject, but nothing can 

 equal the beautiful turns and ex- 

 pressions throughout the whole po- 

 em, which renders the writer wor- 

 thy not only of a paltry rectory, 

 but of the favour of all the men of 

 sense in our country : and the per- 

 formance itself is not only an ho- 

 nour to the ancient Uritons, but to 

 human nature in general.'' — After 

 giving some specimens of his poetry, 

 Mf. Morris goes on: — "These lines 



Mill 



