Grahame Davies: Gray (From Welsh)

Gray
By Grahame Davies
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the Welsh

Every last thing to ever last is gray:
The clouds above the glen when day is done.
When all things change, these are the things that stay.

The harbor-filling tides along the quay,
The lichen where the rock is overrun,
Every last thing to ever last is gray:

The sheen of rain upon the slate by day,
The dales' dusk sweeping alleys one by one.
When all things change, these are the things that stay.

The mist that veils the scars of slag away,
The ash that fills the hearth whose flame is gone.
Every last thing to ever last is gray:

The sea that bore the nation's load and pay,
The gulls above the shoreland in the sun.
When all things change, these are the things that stay.

The home we made of steel where now we stay
Which we create with light and dark at one.
Every last thing that ever lasts is gray:
When all things change, these are the things that stay.

The Original:

Llwyd

Llwyd yw’r pethau sy’n goroesi i gyd:
ar derfyn dydd, cymylau uwch y glyn.
Mae’r rhain yn aros, er pob newid byd.

Y llanw’n llenwi’r harbwr ar ei hyd,
y cen ar greigiau’r chwarel ar y bryn.
Llwyd yw’r pethau sy’n goroesi i gyd:

Cyfnos y cwm yn disgyn fesul stryd,
y glaw sy’n sgleinio ar y llechi tyn.
Mae’r rhain yn aros, er pob newid byd.

Y niwl sy’n cuddio creithiau’r gweithfeydd mud,
a lludw’r aelwyd lle bu’r fflamau ‘nghynn.
Llwyd yw’r pethau sy’n goroesi i gyd:

Y môr a gariodd gyfoeth gwlad yn fflyd,
yr wylan heda uwch y glannau hyn.
Mae’r rhain yn aros, er pob newid byd.

Y cartref wnawn o ddur a maen ynghyd,
grëwn o dduwch ac o olau gwyn.
Llwyd yw’r pethau sy’n goroesi i gyd.
Mae’r rhain yn aros, er pob newid byd.