Ymdreiddiwn ychydig yn ddyfnach i emynau Pantycelyn yn y bennod hon, gan ganolbwyntio ar un thema. Ar ôl trafod yr emyn poblogaidd sy’n dechrau ‘Pererin wyf mewn anial dir’, nodwn nad dyna oedd yr unig dro na’r tro cyntaf i Williams ddechrau cyfansoddiad gyda’r ddau air hyn. Ar ôl dangos y modd y bu iddo ailgylchu elfennau o’i waith ei hun trwy gydol ei yrfa lenyddol faith, awn ati i ystyried ystyr ac arwyddocâd y ‘pererin’ – fel thema, fel delwedd ac fel persona – yn ngwaith yr emynydd Methodistaidd mawr.

Mae hyn yn ein harwain i drafod dylanwad John Bunyan a’i lyfr Taith y Pererin ar waith Pantycelyn ac ar emynyddiaeth Gymraeg yn gyffredinol. Ac bu’n rhaid crybwyll barn Saunders Lewis am Williams ac am Bunyan wrth fynd heibio hefyd!

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‘I am a Pilgrim’: Williams Pantycelyn (part 2)

We dive a little deeper into Pantycelyn’s hymns in this episode, concentrating on one theme. After discussing the popular hymn beginning ‘Pererin wyf mewn anial dir’ (‘I am a pilgrim in a desert’), we note that that was neither the only time nor the first time that Williams begun a composition with these two words. After demonstrating the fact that he recycled elements of his own work throughout his long literary career, we get down to considering the meaning ans significance of the ‘pilgrim’ – as a theme, as an image and as a persona – in the work of the great Methodist hymnist.

This leads us to discuss the influence of John Bunyan and his book Pilgrim’s Progress upon Pantycelyn’s work and upon Welsh hymnology in general. And we had to mention Saunders Lewis’ views on Williams and Bunyan in passing as well!

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin

Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach/Further Reading:

- Derec Llwyd Morgan, Meddwl a Dychymyg Williams Pantycelyn (1991).

- Kathryn Jenkins, ‘Y Llenor o Bantycelyn’, Efrydiau Athronyddol , IV (1992).

- Glyn Tegai Hughes, Williams Pantycelyn [Writers of Wales], (1983).