Strata Florida

Cadw commisions new poem and art work by Gwyneth Lewis and Rob Turner for Strata Florida abbey entrance.

Link to Rob Turner blog, see installation in progress.

Pan fydda i farw, taenwch fy llwch,
Os gwelwch yn dda, yn Ystrad Fflur.

Dychmygodd Taliesin ei hun
Yn gell. Rwy’n gweld y mynaich
Yn grwm wrth gopïo DNA
Ein dychymyg yn Strata Florida.

Bryd hynny, bydd y ddraenen wen yn fwg
O goelcerth y perthi, byddaf falch
Fel mwyalchen. Gwisgaf y gwynt, fy nghorff
Ac, mewn munud daw awel lem
O’r mynydd gan iasu’r glaswellt yn emau byw.

Gwyneth Lewis
Comisiynwyd gan Cadw

Prose translation of Welsh-language Strata Florida

When I die, please spread my ashes in Ystrad Fflur.

Taliesin imagined himself a cell. I see the monks bent over, copying the DNA of our imagination in Strata Florida.

At that time, time the blackthorn will be like smoke from the hedges’ bonfire, and I will be proud as a thrush. I’ll wear my body, the wind and, in a moment, a cold wind from the mountain will thrill the grass into living gems.
(GL)

Strata Florida

Soil is the dead
Of all ages. Pass
Through this door
Into Christ, the expanding
Universe. Dimension:
Wonder. Uplands bare,
Riches below. Through
This door, be proud
As a blackbird,
Where the humble fern
Blossomed to stone,
Then back again. This
Door. Find your own elsewhere.
Now. The future. Then. Then now.

Gwyneth Lewis
Commissioned by Cadw