Welsh poetry

manuscript

medieval manuscript; deposited in the National Library of Wales

Awen is a Welsh, Cornish and Breton word for "inspiration" (and typically poetic inspiration). In Welsh mythology, is the inspiration of the poets, or bards; its personification, is the inspirational muse of creative artists in general. The inspired individual (often a poet or a soothsayer) is an .

thumb|An on a gravestone in Christ Church, Bala: Dear Price, pure in his diligent service Wide in his knowledge; A man acerbic, fearless and fluent, And thorough in doctrine. '''''' (; plural ) is a traditional Welsh short poem form. It uses quantitative metres, involving the counting of syllables, and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme. Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as .

In Welsh-language poetry, cynghanedd (, literally "concinnity" or "harmony") is the 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 and cerdd dafod. Though of ancient origin, cynghanedd and variations of it are still used today by many Welsh-language poets. A number of poets have experimented with using cynghanedd in English-language verse, for instance Gerard Manley Hopkins. Some of Dylan Thomas's work is also influenced by cynghanedd.

The cywydd (; plural ) is one of the most important metrical forms in traditional Welsh poetry (cerdd dafod).

pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall or Brittany