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Dysgu Cymraeg gyda Shakespeare

Menter i ddefnyddio'r Iaith Saesneg o Shakespeare fel modd o helpu dirnadaeth o'r Iaith Gymraeg.
An initiative to utilise the English Language of Shakespeare as a means to aid an understanding of the Welsh Language.

"Wele y ffenestr fy nghalon ... fy llygad"
"Behold the window of my heart ... mine eye"
Voir la fenêtre de mon coeur ... mon oeil
Erblicken das Fenster meines Herzens ... mein Auge
Mirad la ventana de mi corazón ... mi ojo
 Shakespeare, Loves' Labours Lost

Mae'r fenter hon yn ymwneud â grŵp Facebook
This initiative relates to Facebook Group
Dysgu Cymraeg gyda Shakespeare

Pam Shakespeare? ... Why Shakespeare? If one were to ask anyone anywhere globally who is, or was, the foremost exponent of the English Language then what would the reply be? A good guess would be, whether we ask of the ubiquitous person in the street or an Oxbridge professer ... well, we all know who.

This leads to the question of how come does someone writing five-hundred years ago leave the rest of us on the proverbial starting-blocks? And that just doesn't apply to anyone who has lived since then but presumably the infinity of all those who have yet to be more than a twinkle of an eye.

Somewhere along the line, in a very real sense, Mankind's mental powers peaked then in one person's mind. A high-water mark which since then no-one has come close to. That is if we remember we are considering the English Language ... perhaps elsewhere?

So we have a resource of infinite complexity to work with ...

"Deffro, annwyl galon, deffro! Rwyt ti wedi cysgu'n dda; ddeffro!"
"Awake, dear heart, awake! Thou hast slept well; awake! "
 "Réveille-toi, mon cœur, réveille-toi!   Tu as bien dormi, réveille-toi!"
"Wach auf, liebes Herz, wach!   Du hast gut geschlafen, wach!"
"¡Despiertas, querido corazón, despiertas!   ¡Has dormido bien, despiertas!"
 Shakespeare, The Tempest

Do you get it? Looking at the original English one thinks one hasn't a clue how to translate it into Welsh. Yet with the magic of the Internet, and we're talking about utilising freely available machine translators such as Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, Yandex Translate and Online Translator we can with their inspiration quickly arrive at a translation which has a ring of sense about it. And, remember, we're translating Shakepeare! So how about:

"lleidr yr haul, ac ag atyniad mawr ei amddifadu y môr helaeth"
"the sun's a thief, and with his great attraction robs the vast sea"
 "le soleil est un voleur et avec sa grande attraction il vole la vaste mer"
"die Sonne ist ein Dieb und raubt mit seiner großen Anziehungskraft das weite Meer"
"el sol es un ladrón y con su gran atracción roba el vasto mar"
 Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

We could ask what went wrong but then evolution can be not only progressive but regressive. For instance, in more recent times, there were the Lunar landings. If one considers those to be a high-water mark in human evolution then, clearly, things have gone backwards, retarded, since then.

"y lleuad y dwyn dwli, a'r tân gwelw ei bod hi am ysbeidiau rhag yr haul"
"the moon's an arrant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun"
 "la lune est un voleur absolu et son feu pâle elle arrache du soleil"
"der Mond ist ein absoluter Dieb, und ihr blasses Feuer entreißt sie der Sonne"
"la luna es un ladrón absoluto, y su fuego pálido la arrebata del sol"
 Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

A circle of life: interaction of Sun, Moon and Earth.

"Rydym yn fath stwff wrth i freuddwydion gael eu gwneud ar, ac mae ein bywyd bach o dalgrynnu â chysgu"
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep"
Shakespeare, The Tempest

But Newton was developing ideas of Gravity some century later.

"Ni allaf ddweud beth i'w feddwl amdano ... mae'n ddiderfyn o feddwl anfeidrol"
"Cannot tell what to think of it ... it is past the infinite of thought"
Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

But we've gone nuclear.

"Mae amser yn teithio mewn cyflymder amrywiol â gwahanol bobl"
"Time travels in divers paces with divers persons"
 Shakespeare, As You Like It

And that includes our appreciation of the stars in the night sky.

"O, gwae fi, wedi gweld yr hyn a welais, gweler beth a welaf!"
"O, woe is me, to have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"
 Shakespeare, Hamlet

Afterall there isn't much romance in a nuclear reaction.

"Wele y ffenestr fy nghalon ... fy llygad"
"Behold the window of my heart ... mine eye"
 Shakespeare, Loves' Labours Lost

So what we know is that Shakespeare was writing at a time which we consider to be less scientifically advanced than our own.

"Yr wyf wedi cael breuddwyd, heibio'r ffraethineb dyn i ddweud ... beth oedd fy mreuddwyd"
"I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say ... what my dream was"
Shakespeare, A Midsummer's Night Dream

Now language is a natural phenomena, it is how we people communicate.

"Mae gan y ddaear swigod, fel y mae'r dŵr, ac mae'r rhain ohonynt"
"The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them"
 Shakespeare, Macbeth

But in this pre-electric era day-to-day life could be, without the flick of a switch, much more complex.

"Ar hyn o bryd rwy'n sefyll fel un ar graig wedi ei amgylchynu ag anialwch môr"
"For now I stand as one upon a rock environed with a wilderness of sea ..."
 Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

Everyday tasks would have required greater mental effort, more complex thought processes, greater powers of concentration.

"Ond, rhag ofn y bydd fy hun yn euog i hunan yn anghywir, byddaf yn stopio fy nghlustiau yn erbyn cân y môr-forwyn"
"But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong, I'll stop mine ears against the mermaid's song"
 Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

One would be more aware of the vagaries and dangers of climate.

"Stormydd yn garedig a thonnau halen yn ffres mewn cariad ..."
"Tempests are kind and salt waves fresh in love ..."
 Shakespeare, What You Will

Closer to Nature.

"Fel pan fydd yr haul euraidd yn salwi'r bore, ac, ar ôl iddo orffen y môr gyda ei trawstiau ..."
"As when the golden sun salutes the morn, and, having gilt the ocean with his beams ..."
 Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

No central heating.

"Neu gorwedd i lawr yn noeth yn Rhagfyr eira drwy feddwl ar wres gwych yr haf?"
"Or wallow naked in December snow by thinking on fantastic summer's heat?"
 Shakespeare, Richard II

No electric lighting.

"Dyma'r awyr; dyna'r haul gogoneddus ..."
"This is the air; that is the glorious sun ..." Shakespeare, What You Will

Society's inequalities would be self-evident.

"Felly dylai'r dosbarthiad dadwneud gormod, a pob dyn yn cael digon"
"So distribution should undo excess, and each man have enough"
 Shakespeare, King Lear

No Socialism.

"Er mwyn i chi ysgwyd y swm dros ben iddynt, ac yn dangos y nefoedd yn fwy cyfiawn"
"That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, and show the heavens more just"
 Shakespeare, King Lear

So in the abstract politics doesn't seem to have changed much ... a never changing underlying theme of humanity.

"Dyma ddiwedd fy siwrnai ... a marc dŵr uchel fy mywyda"
"Here is my journey's end ... and very sea-mark of my utmost sail"
 Shakespeare, Othello

Emotions?

Os bydd cerddoriaeth fod y bwyd o gariad, chwarae arno;
If music be the food of love, play on;
 Roi imi ormod ohono, mae hynny'n ddiflasu,
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
 Gall y blas yn sâl, ac felly yn marw.
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
 Y straen unwaith eto! Roedd gostyngiad sy'n marw:
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
 O, daeth dros fy nghlust fel y sain melys,
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
 Mae hynny'n anadlu ar fanc o fioled,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
 Dwyn a rhoi arogl! Ddigon; dim mwyach:
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
 Dydy hi ddim mor melys nawr fel yr oedd o'r blaen.
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
 Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

This is what gets people about Shakespeare: the ability to transform emotions into words.

A fyddaf yn cymharu ti i ddiwrnod braf o haf?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
 Rwyt ti'n fwy hyfryd ac yn fwy tymherus:
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
 Mae gwyntoedd garw yn ysgwyd y blagur hyfryd o Fai,
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
 Ac mae prydles yr haf yn ddyddiad yn ôl rhy fyr:
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
 Rhywbryd yn rhy boeth, mae llygad nefoedd yn disgleirio,
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
 Ac yn aml mae ei wyneb aur yn dywyll;
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
 Ac mae holl harddwch o harddwch yn dirywiad rhywbryd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
 Yn ôl siawns neu yn newid cwrs natur heb ei newid;
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
 Ond dy haf tragwyddol, ni fydd pylu
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
 Nac yn colli meddiant o'r harddwch hwnnw rwyt ti'n berchen;
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
 A na bydd Marwolaeth yn ymffrostio bod rwyt ti'n crwydro yn ei gysgod,
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
 Pan wrth i amser fynd heibio byddet ti'n aeddfed:
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
 Er belled ag y gall dynion yn anadlu neu'r llygaid yn gallu gweld,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
 Mor hir yn byw hyn ac mae hyn yn rhoi bywyd i ti.
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
 Shakespeare, Sonnet XVIII

But what are emotions? We are flesh and blood, a body. We are a mind with ephemeral thoughts. We are emotions which charge the body and infect the mind. Or is it vice-versa?

A yw hwn yn dagr yr wyf yn gweld cyn i fi,
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
 Y siafft tuag at fy llaw? Dere, gad i mi ti ddal
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
 Nid oes gen i ti, ond gallaf dy gweld ti.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
 Nid wyt ti, gweledigaeth angheuol, yn synhwyrol
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
 I deimlo ac i weld? Neu wyt ti ond
To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
 Dagr y meddwl, creu ffug,
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
 Bwrw ymlaen oddi ar y gwres-gorthrymedig ymennydd?
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
 Shakespeare, Macbeth

And we laugh.

Yr wyf wedi cael breuddwyd,
I have had a dream,
 Heibio i'r ffraethineb o ddyn i ddehongli fy mreuddwyd ...
Past the wit of man to say what dream it was ...
 Roeddwn i'n meddwl fy mod yn ... Ac roeddwn i'n meddwl fy mod wedi cael ...
Methought I was ...and Methought I had ...
 Ond mae dyn yn unig yn ffŵl byrbwyll, os
But man is but a patched fool, if
 Bydd ef yn cynnig i ddweud beth roeddwn i'n meddwl bod cefais.
He will offer to say what methought I had.
 Mae'r llygad o dyn ddim wedi clywed, mae'r clust o dyn ddim wedi gweld,
The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen,
 Mae llaw dyn ddim yn gallu flasu, ei dafod i ddychmygu,
Man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive,
 Nac ei galon i adrodd, beth oedd fy mreuddwyd
Nor his heart to report, what my dream was
 ... bydd ei alw y freuddwyd o Gwaelod
... it shall be called Bottom's Dream,
 am ei fod ganddo unrhyw gwaelod
Because it hath no bottom
 Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

But language is communication and so Shakespeare is a master of the art of communication which raises a question: Is Shakespeare simply producing entertainment or is there some sort of hidden meaning, message, behind it all?

Nage, yn wir, os fe gest ti dy llygaid,
Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes,
 Efallai y byddet ti ddim gallu gydnabod fi:
you might fail of the knowing me:
 Mae'n tad doeth sy'n gwybod ei plentyn ei hun.
it is a wise father that knows his own child.
 Wel, hen ddyn, byddaf yn dweud wrthych newyddion am
Well, old man, I will tell you news of
 eich mab: rhoi imi dy fendith: wirionedd fydd allan;
your son: give me your blessing: truth will come to light;
 Ni ellir llofruddiaeth yn cael ei cuddio hir;
murder cannot be hid long;
efallai y mab dyn yn ffug, ond mewn amser gwirionedd bydd allan.
a man's son may, but at the length truth will out.
 Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

But even if there isn't, or never was, a message from the grave then, given that Shakespeare's expression of English is at a higher level than our own modern day use, can we really hope to understand Shakespeare's meaning? What does "murder cannot be hid long" really mean within the context of the passage the fragmentary sentence relates to?

Yfory, ac yfory, ac yfory
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
 Yn symud yn araf mewn cyflymder mân hwn o ddydd i ddydd
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
 I'r sillaf olaf o amser a gofnodwyd,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
 A'n holl ddyddiau hwyr wedi goleuo ffyliaid
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
 Y ffordd i farwolaeth llychlyd. Allan, allan, cannwyll byr!
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
 Mae Bywyd ond cysgod cerdded, chwaraewr gwael
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
 Sy'n rhodio a threulio ei hawr ar y llwyfan
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
 Ac yna yn clywed dim mwy: mae'n hanes
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
 Wrthym gan twpsyn dwl, yn llawn o sain a llid,
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
 Dynodi dim byd.
Signifying nothing.
 Shakespeare, Macbeth

Perhaps one gets a clue if one reflects that Shakespeare went, as needs must we all, on a journey from cradle to grave.

Mae'r byd i gyd yn llwyfan,
All the world's a stage,
 Ac mae'r holl ddynion a menywod yn chwaraewyr:
And all the men and women merely players:
 Mae ganddynt eu allanfeydd a'u mynedfeydd;
They have their exits and their entrances;
 Ac un dyn yn ei amser yn chwarae llawer o rannau,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
 Mae ei episodau yn saith oedran. Yn gyntaf y babanod,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
 Llefain a chwydu mewn breichiau y nyrs.
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
 Ac yna mae'r bachgen-ysgol yn gwyno, gyda'i fag
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
 Ac yn disgleirio wyneb bore, ymlusgol fel falwen
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
 Amharod i ysgol. Ac yna y cariad,
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
 Yn gollwng ochenaid fel ffwrnais, gyda baled truenus
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
 A wneir i ael ei feistres. Yna milwr,
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
 Llawn o llwon rhyfedd ac aruthrol fel y llewpard,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
 Genfigennus yn anrhydedd, sydyn ac gyflym mewn cweryl,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
 Yn chwilio am enw iddo'i hun
Seeking the bubble reputation
 Hyd yn oed mewn perygl marwol. Ac yna yr ynad,
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
 Stomog braster gyda llygredd o'i swyddfa,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
 Gyda gwyneb difrifol ac ymddangosiad parchu,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
 Yn llawn o eiriau doeth ac enghreifftiau cyfoes;
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
 Ac felly mae'n chwarae ei ran. Yr oedran chweched yn symud
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
 I mewn i gwawdlun crebachu o ieuenctid,
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
 Llygaid wan a bola slac, mae e'n gwisgo sbectol,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
 Dillad yn cael ei cofia'n dda ond rhy ieuenctid a byd ymaith
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
 Ar gyfer ei gorff crebachu; a'i lais dynol mawr,
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
 Gan droi unwaith eto tuag at trebl plentynnaidd,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
 Nodiadau uchel bregus yw ei sain. Olygfa olaf o'r holl,
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
 Sy'n dod i ben hanes rhyfedd hwn o daith bywyd,
That ends this strange eventful history,
 Yw ail blentyndod ac unig ebargofiant,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
 Heb ddannedd, heb lygaid, heb flas, heb bopeth.
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
 Shakespeare, As You Like It

Likewise there is, as ever, our volatile relationship with Europe.

Unwaith eto i'r egwyl, annwyl ffrindiau, unwaith eto;
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
 Neu gau'r wal gyda ein Saesneg marw ... Mae'r gêm i ffwrdd:
Or close the wall up with our English dead ... The game's afoot:
 Dilynwch eich ysbryd, ac ar yr arwystl hon gweiddwch
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry:
 'Duw amdani Harry, Lloegr a George Sant!'
'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
 Shakespeare, Henry V

Not forgetting Love.

O, tyngu nid gan y lleuad, y lleuad anghyson ...
O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon ...
 rhag bod eich cariad profi amrywiol yn yr un modd
lest that thy love prove likewise variable
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Or the night sky.

Mae'r awyr yn cael ei beintio gyda sêr heb rhif,
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks,
 maen nhw i gyd tân ac mae pob yn disgleirio
they are all fire and every one doth shine
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

So the relationship between our world and Shakespeare's world is complex: there is difference and sameness.

Hynny yw, iâ poeth ac eira rhyfedd ryfeddol.
That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
 Sut fyddwn ni'n canfod cytuno ar yr anghydfod hwn?
How shall we find the concord of this discord?
 Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's language is superior to ours, our technology is superior to Shakespeare's.

O fy arglwydd dda, mae'r byd ond gair:
O my good lord, the world is but a word:
 O mon bon seigneur, le monde n'est qu'un mot:
O mein guter Herr, die Welt ist nur ein Wort:
Oh mi buen señor, el mundo no es más que una palabra:
 A oedd y cyfan eich un chi i roi mewn anadl,
Were it all yours to give it in a breath,
 Était-ce tout à vous de le donner dans un souffle
War es alles dein es in einem Atemzug zu geben
Si fuera todo tuyo para darle un respiro
 Pa mor gyflym oedd hi wedi mynd!
How quickly were it gone!
 À quelle vitesse était-il parti!
Wie schnell war es weg!
¡Qué rápido se fue!
 Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

A relationship of sorts would seem to emerge between state of technology and linguistic ability.

Mae'r esblygiad o ddynoliaeth wedi bridio allan
The strain of man's bred out
L'évolution de l'humanité s'est développée
Die Evolution der Menschheit hat sich herausgebildet
La evolución de la humanidad se ha desvanecido
 I mewn babwn a mwnci
Into baboon and monkey
Au babouin et au singe
Zu Pavian und Affe
En babuino y mono
 Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

CYMRU AM BYTH

Publisher's Notes: (i) Hyperlink to English Language texts of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
(ii) Hyperlink to unabridged English Language audio recordings of Shakespeare at LibriVox
(iii) Dysgu Cymraeg gyda Shakespeare is Tenby Publishers' contribution to the Welsh Assembly declared aim of promoting awareness and understanding of the Welsh Language amongst the predominately English Language speaking population of Wales with a long-term goal of bilingualism.

 

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