Englyn is a traditional Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 and Cornish

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

 short poem

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 form. It uses quantitative metres

Meter (poetry)

In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...

, involving the counting of syllable

Syllable

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...

s, and rigid patterns of rhyme

Rhyme

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...

 and half rhyme

Half rhyme

Half rhyme or slant rhyme, sometimes called sprung, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme, is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved . Many half/slant rhymes are also eye rhymes.Half/slant rhyme is widely used in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Icelandic verse...

. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as cynghanedd

Cynghanedd

In Welsh language poetry, Cynghanedd is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of cynghanedd show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the awdl. Though of ancient origin, cynghanedd and variations of...

.

The Eight Types

There are eight types of englynion. Details of their structures are given below.

Englyn penfyr

Also known as the short-ended englyn. It consists of a verse of three lines. The first line has ten syllables and the other two have seven each. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllables of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other two lines. The fourth syllable of the second line echoes the final syllable of the first through either rhyme or consonance.

Englyn milwr

The soldier's englyn. This consists of three seven-syllable lines. All three lines rhyme.

Englyn unodl union

The straight one-rhymed englyn. This consists of four lines of ten, six, seven and seven syllables. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other three lines. The part of the first line after the rhyme alliterates with the first part of the second line.

This is an englyn unodl union:

Ym Mhorth oer y Merthyron – y merthyr

Mwya'i werth o ddigon

A hir-fawrha y fro hon

Wr dewr o Aberdaron

—Alan Llwyd

Englyn unodl crwca

The crooked one-rhyme englyn. This englyn is made up of four lines of seven, seven, ten and six syllables. The last syllable of the first, second and last lines rhyme and seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the third line all rhyme.

Englyn cyrch

This version has four lines of seven syllables each. The final syllables of the first second and last line rhyme. The last syllable of the third line rhymes with the second, third or fourth syllable of the last line.

Englyn proest dalgron

In this englyn, there are four seven-syllable lines that half rhyme with each other.

Englyn lleddfbroest

This is identical to the englyn proest dalgron except that the half rhymes must use the ae, oe, wy, and ei diphthongs.

Englyn proest gadwynog

The chain half-rhyme

Chain rhyme

Chain rhyme is the linking together of stanzas by carrying a rhyme over from one stanza to the next.A number of verse forms use chain rhyme as an integral part of their structures. One example is terza rima, which is written in tercets with a rhyming pattern a-b-a, b-c-b, c-d-c...

 englyn. In this version there are four lines of seven syllables. The first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth half rhyme on the same vowel sound as the full rhyme syllables.

Other forms

The novelist Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies

William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...

 once said that englyns were an old enthusiasm of his. He said that the form was derived by the Welsh from the inscriptions on Roman tombs in Wales. According to him, englyns must have four lines, the first one having ten syllables, then six, then the last two having seven syllables each. In the first line there must be a break after the seventh, eighth, or ninth syllable, and the rhyme with the second line comes at this break; but the tenth syllable of the first line must either rhyme or be in assonance with the middle of the second line. The last two lines must rhyme with the first rhyme in the first line, but the third or fourth line must rhyme on a weak syllable.

Source: Davies, "Haiku and Englyn", _Toronto Daily Star_, 4 April 1959, in _The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies_, 1990.

Examples

Here are two englynion by the 12th century Welsh poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr , in English also known as Kendall, was the court poet of Madog ap Maredudd, Owain Gwynedd , and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, and one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.Cynddelw began his career as court poet to Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys...

:

Balch ei fugunawr ban nafawr ei lef

pan ganer cyrn cydawr;

corn Llyelyn llyw lluydfawr

bon chang blaen hang bloed fawr.

Corn wedi llad corn llawen

corn llugynor Llywlyn

corn gwyd gwr hydr ai can

corn meinell yn ol gellgwn

Here is an English language englyn by novelist Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies

William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...

.

The Old Journalist

He types his laboured column--weary drudge!

Senile, fudge and solemn;

Spare, editor, to condemn

These dry leaves of his autumn.

Grace in the form of an englyn (with cynghanedd shown).

O Dad, yn deulu dedwydd - Y deuwn (Dad & dedwydd, dd repeated)

A diolch o'r newydd, (deuwn & diolch, d repeated)

Cans o'th law y daw bob dydd (law & daw rhyming, daw & dydd, d repeated, cynghanedd sain)

Ein lluniaeth a'n llawenydd. (ein lluniaeth & a'n llawenydd, lln repeated)