Rich and varied though it is, the heritage of Welsh literature is
not well known, and still less appreciated, beyond Offa’s Dyke,
partly because there are all too few good translations of
Welsh-language works into English and other languages, and partly
because few outsiders master Welsh well enough to appreciate its
literature. This volume is a tribute to one such ‘outsider’ and,
indirectly, to another. Herbert Arthur Hodges (1905–76) was for
most of his career Professor of Philosophy at Reading University. A
gifted linguist and student of hymnology, he became interested in
the Welsh hymn tradition and learnt the language in order to
appreciate the work of Wales’s foremost hymnwriters, William
Williams of Pantycelyn and Ann Griffiths. He also co-operated with
another scholar, Anglican cleric A. M. Allchin, who likewise
acquired Welsh in order to study Welsh hymns and Welsh poetry and
published his own notable studies in the field. Hodges and Allchin
had intended to publish a critical edition of the work of Ann
Griffiths, but the project was never completed. E. Wyn James has,
however, been able to incorporate some of Hodges’s notes on the
hymns of Ann Griffiths in the present volume. In terms of its
content, this is a rich and rewarding collection. Following the
editor’s introduction, there is a life of H. A. Hodges by his
granddaughter, Anna Parsons Howard, and a bibliography of his
writings. This is followed by a section devoted to William
Williams, which contains not only three essays by Hodges on aspects
of Pantycelyn’s work and the Welsh tradition, but also a small
collection of his metrical translations of Welsh hymns,
translations which leave us regretting that there aren’t more of
them. The second main section is devoted to Ann Griffiths, and
includes an introduction by Hodges along with his translation of a
tour de force by Saunders Lewis, his 1965 lecture on the
hymnwriter, delivered at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in
Newtown. There follows a collection of the texts of Ann’s hymns
along with Hodges’s fine metrical translations, his translations of
Ann’s letters, and notes on the hymns and letters. Both H. A.
Hodges and A. M. Allchin would concede that their perspectives on
Welsh literature are those of outsiders, yet to have their critical
and objective appreciation of our greatest hymnwriters is a boon to
students of Welsh hymnody and Welsh literature. And for those who
believe that translating Welsh literature into English is ‘selling
the pass’, a volume like this should give pause for thought.
*Rhidian Griffiths @ www.gwales.com*
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