The Hymns of Ann Griffiths, of Dolwar Fechan, Translated into English Verse

Griffiths, Ann, 1776-1805Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7

Word count: 29K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Hymns of Ann Griffiths, of Dolwar Fechan, Translated into English VerseAuthor: Griffiths, Ann, 1776-1805,Language: English, Class: PB: Language and Literatures: General works, Release Date: Feb 12, 2016

Editor's review

This volume gathers the hymns of the Welsh poet Ann Griffiths (1776–1805), rendered into English verse by a translator. Griffiths wrote in Welsh in a style ardent and inward, centering on faith, redemption, and personal spiritual experience; the verse translation strives to preserve the recitable, singable character of hymn, so that readers without Welsh can still feel its rhythm and emotional force. Its value lies not in scholarly annotation or biographical research but in presenting how a rare woman religious poet left, in a short life, poems of lasting power. Suitable as devotional reading, as an introduction to English poetry, or as a starting point for the study of Welsh literature; best read slowly and savored.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers interested in religious poetry and the hymn tradition
Beginners and enthusiasts studying Welsh literature or women's writing
Teachers seeking English verse material for poetry appreciation classes
Readers with a habit of devotional reading who are willing to read slowly and reflect

Not a good fit for

Scholarly researchers seeking the Welsh original alongside the translation or detailed annotation
Readers expecting a full biography of the poet and historical research
General Chinese-language readers seeking a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the translator's preface to understand the volume's conventions, then choose several poems by theme for close reading.
When reading aloud, attend to rhyme and line breaks and feel the hymn's recitability; there is no need to weigh every word.
Take notes alongside biblical imagery, recording recurring themes of faith and emotional threads.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are these hymns in Welsh or English?

This is a verse translation into English: Ann Griffiths's Welsh hymns are rendered into English verse. The text is in English, without the Welsh original facing it.

Can I understand it without a religious background?

Yes. The imagery is largely Christian, but the core is faith experience and emotional expression. General readers can start with rhythm and feeling, looking up allusions as needed; no prior theological knowledge is required.

Is it suitable for singing in church?

The materials do not say whether music is included. As a verse translation, it has a recitable, singable form, but whether it can be sung directly depends on finding suitable tunes and on the church's arrangements.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Griffiths, Ann, 1776-1805 Author · Welsh · 1776–1805

Ann Griffiths (1776–1805) was a Welsh poet and hymn writer. She was born in Wales and died young, at about the age of twenty-nine. Public information about her life is limited, and what has come down to us consists mainly of her hymns. These hymns take religion as their theme, are concise in language and sincere in feeling, and hold a place in the Welsh religious poetry tradition, exerting a considerable and lasting influence on later Welsh religious poetry. Her works were translated into English verse and published as The Hymns of Ann Griffiths, of Dolwar Fechan, Translated into English Verse, a translation that also allowed her hymns to circulate beyond Welsh-language readers. One work by her is held in the collection. On the whole, she is remembered for her hymn writing, with her work centering on the expression of faith and religious feeling.