Unit 4 · Uned 4: Video playlist

‘Llwybrau’ by Nia Morais is an emotional and reflective poem - cerdd - in which the narrator is remembering her Mam-gu and Tad-cu.

The poet’s grandparents moved from the former Portuguese colony of Cabo Verde in west Africa, to start a new life in Wales in the 1940s.

‘Llwybrau’ has three verses.

The first verse starts with the narrator’s memory of the only item she was left by her grandparents:

mwclis aur perffaith,
loced fach siâp calon o gwmpas fy ngwddf.

When the main character wore the locket, she was reminded about them and the things in their life:

…papur wal pinc ac aur,
tomatos a reis yn coginio,
hufen iâ fanila,

But when she was ten, she lost the locket and…

Dim ond yr atgofion oedd ar ôl.

The poet - or bardd - wonders if she’d kept the locket she would have stayed closer to the culture of her grandparents, perhaps by learning Portuguese or going to church on Sundays.

She thinks about how her grandparents would feel about her, and hopes that they wouldn’t be disappointed:

Mam-gu, Tad-cu, wnes i’ch siomi chi?
Ydych chi’n falch ohona i nawr?

In verse two, the narrator starts to think about the past and to imagine what life was like for her Mam-gu and Tad-cu in the 1940s:

Mam-gu yn mesur ffa coffi yn y siop,
yn codi llond llaw ac yn anadlu,

and compares how different life in Cardiff might have been to how it was in Cabo Verde

yn cofio’r bwthyn bach ar yr ynys
heb ddŵr na thrydan
y mynyddoedd a’r môr glas…

In verse three the bardd asks again:

Mam-gu, Tad-cu, ydych chi’n falch ohona i nawr?

This time, she touches the place on her neck where the locket once hung. She misses her grandparents and wants to feel close to them.

She then considers that maybe everyone has something they’re yearning for…

am rywle i guddio o’r glaw
am wyneb caredig dros y bwrdd brecwast
neu loced fach siâp calon.

The poem ends with the narrator wondering whether she can feel close to her grandparents again.

Ac efallai, os dw i’n canolbwyntio,
wna i’ch ffeindio chi,
yn dilyn y llwybrau roeddech chi’n arfer cerdded.

This is a poem filled with emotion and a sense of loss.

Some of the main themes of ‘Llwybrau’ are hunaniaeth and amrywiaeth.

You could discuss these by mentioning the details, events, characters or descriptions from the cerdd that link to the theme.

For example, if you are discussing “hunaniaeth”, think about the things the narrator remembers about her Mam-gu and Tad-cu. You can then consider your connections with your family, and how they help you be who you are.

Now, think about how you would answer these questions on the theme of “hunaniaeth”:

• Meddylia am bwy neu ble rwyt ti’n teimlo’n agos atynt, neu ble rwyt ti’n ‘perthyn’?
• Wyt ti’n ystyried dy hun yn Gymro neu’n Gymraes? Meddylia am resymau dros dy ateb.