Weekly Response: Week 4

The recurring theme in almost all the poems is love. For the first time I finally understand love poems. These poets compare their love or say their love in ways that makes sense to me. Each love poem is presented in a manner of devotion, or loyalty, or respect, or the type of love that completely fills a man and leaves him at the mercy of what he feels. 

I really liked the poems of Dafydd Ap Gwilym. Especially Morfudd’s Embrace. I read a lot, and one of the series I have recently read was about referenced an old Celtic tradition. This is of Torcs. From what I read and researched, a Torc is given to chieftain and his heirs, or those of strong leadership and strength. A man would give his bride a replica of his Torc as a symbol of true devotion, respect, and almost ownership-like-possession. A picture of a band is shown above to help better understand what a torc looks like. It is hard to stress the importance and symbolism this piece of jewelry has in a relationship. This is like a branding. Once it is given it cannot be taken back. Everyone knows who belongs with who and why. In Morfudd’s Embrace one of the stanzas is about a “torque”. This spoke to me because I understood the meaning behind the torque which put the entire poem in a new perspective. The respect and loyalty that is shared between a couple that shares a Torc is hard to come by. This symbolizes that the man chose his equal in his partnership and in medieval times, women were not supposed to be strong and equal to men. All through Dafydd poems I felt the love he suffered through because love can be overwhelming and yet once it happens there is no stopping it. 

I noticed that the male poets spoke of something or someone else. Whereas Gwerful spoke of herself. She didn’t speak of herself vainly, more of her situation and her status. This interesting because it shows an understanding that if women to speak of their feelings no one would listen to them. Men who exclaim their love shows how strong they feel and that it can only be true love. A women’s feelings are so fleeting that it would not be wise to take their feelings seriously. However, when a woman speaks of her status the reader becomes sympathetic and her feelings are then assumed by the reader. (please note I do not think this. This is just my interpretation and inference from past readings about women and their feelings/status)