gerwyn wiliams
situation, vulnerable to the nihilism which finally defeated him.^88 Whereasprevi-
ously in the 1930s, inTir NewyddandCerddi 1934–1942, Llywelyn-Williams had
seen fit to criticize Welsh literature for its apparent failure to respond to modern
society, he now seemed to be advocating the perennial relevance of its antiquity.
But although he repositioned himself as a poet, aligning himself with his indigen-
ous literary tradition and distancing himself from the Auden generation, Llywelyn-
Williams maintained much of his independence as a poet.^89 Theformheemployed
in the majority of his poems wasvers libre,aforeignimportthathadnotreceived
universal acceptance within conservative literary circles. Part of the Welsh com-
promise withvers libreresulted in a meeting of opposites, between the free spiritvers
libreand the home-birdcynghanedd, and the tension-wrought arranged marriage
namedvers libre cynganeddol; this was seen most notably in the poems written by
T. Gwynn Jones in 1934–5.^90 Llywelyn-Williams’s adoption of the form underlined
his own cosmopolitan and internationalist outlook, and also helped authenticate
vers libreas a valid form for Welsh poetry.^91 Another indication of his independent
stance involves his relationship to social causes. Even in his most socially committed
phase during 1934–42, one suspects that he had certain reservations, and was not
uncritically convinced: in retrospect he played down his early political leaning,
describing himself as ‘some sort of Marxist’ who had ‘very crude’ socialist ideas.^92
After 1936, when the burning of a proposed bombing range in the Llˆyn Peninsula
led to a whole generation of Welsh writers publicly committing themselves to the
nationalist cause, Llywelyn-Williams again guarded his independence by disregard-
ing the new orthodoxy.^93 His own experience had made him wary, alerting him to
(^88) Hill, ‘A Oes Golau yn y Gwyll? Alun Llywelyn-Williams ac Alun Lewis’.
(^89) Dafydd Glyn Jones, ‘The Poetry of Alun Llywelyn-Williams’, 14, referred to ‘his comparative
independence of the tradition...although professionally...Alun Llywelyn-Williams is much involved
in the Welsh literary community, I have always felt that as a poet and critic he has stood somewhat
apart from it’.
(^90) A major figure in the Welsh literary revival at the start of the twentieth century, T. Gwynn Jones
was a master of reinvention, and originally published his poems invers libre cynganeddolunder a
pseudonym in 1934–5; they were later republished inYDwymyn(Aberystwyth: Gwasg Aberystwyth,
1944). 91
Even the most determined critics of Welshvers librehave tended to single out Alun Llywelyn-
Williams’s poetry as the exception that proves the rule: see, in particular, D. Tecwyn Lloyd, ‘Y Wers
Rydd a’i Hamserau’, inLlˆen Cyni a Rhyfel a Thrafodion Eraill(Llandysul: Gwasg Gomer, 1987), 169: ‘I
would suggest that Alun Llywelyn-Williams is one of the very very few [Welsh] poets who has managed
to treatvers libresuccessfully.’
(^92) Llywelyn-Williams, ‘Sgwrs rhwng Alun Llywelyn-Williams a Bedwyr Lewis Jones’, in J. E.
Caerwyn Williams (ed.),Ysgrifau Beirniadol,i (Dinbych: Gwasg Gee, 1965), 123; andidem,Gwanwyn
yn y Ddinas, 98.
(^93) It is interesting to note that Cardiff station director, E. R. Appleton, prevented Llywelyn-Williams
from getting a permanent post with the BBC in 1935 on the grounds that he was ‘ ‘‘an ardent young
Nationalist’’ ’; quoted in John Davies,Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales, 72. Appleton was almost
certainly overstating the case: Llywelyn-Williams’s membership of the Welsh Nationalist Party in
the 1930s was unenthusiastic and short-lived, due to his critical response to what he regarded as its
right-wing, reactionary tendencies.