Films

An Taves Hen / The Old Language

By Julyan Holmes
Read by Edward Rowe

Prenn avleythes an ughella gwydh,            kudhys y'n koeskepar dell re dhyn devnydh                  kador ha moes,pyskador mor, dell wor y fydh                  yn kokk ha roesha sten dell dhastal meur a byth             ha payn ha gloesdhe'n paler, pell a'n golow dydh              y'n garrek loes,y helghyn ni yn men ha menydh,             y'n kleys ha kloes:preydh prydydh a vydh gesys rydh         kynth yw y voes;pub ger a gyffen a'n jevydh,                    ha skav ha poes,y dalvos dhyn; pub devynn ha dyth,       settys war droes,dhe'n taves hen ow ri ken besydh           ha kig ha goes,may kewsyn ni yeth nowydh –                 mar goth ha'n oes! Heartwood of the tallest trees,                hidden in the forest,provides us with                                        tables and chair;a fisherman entrusts himself                   to boat and netand tin repays many times over              the trouble and painof a miner, far from the daylight,             in the grey rock;so we hunt, on stone and hill,                  in ditch and fence.A poet lets his prey go free,                    yet it's his meat and drink;each word we find,                                   significant or commonplace,has its worth and every saying                set back on its feet,re-christens the old tongue,                    gives it flesh and blood,so we speak a new language,                 as old as the ages.

Credits

“An Taves Hen / The Old Language” by Julyan Holmes, published in Nothing Broken: Recent Poetry in Cornish, ed. Tim Saunders (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2006).

Directed by Tommy Creagh.