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cynghanedd
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cynghanedd

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Article History
Welsh:
“harmony”
Related Topics:
Welsh literature
awdl
See all related content

cynghanedd, Welsh poetic device. It is a complicated system of alliteration and internal rhyme, obligatory in the 24 strict metres of Welsh bardic verse. Cynghanedd had developed by the 13th century from the prosodic devices of the early bards and was formally codified at the Caerwys Eisteddfod (Assembly of Bards) of 1523. The device became an obligatory adornment of poems in the strict (classical bardic) metres. There are four fundamental types of cynghanedd, but within these there are a number of refinements and variations. When skillfully used, cynghanedd is capable of conveying an almost unlimited variety of subtle effects.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.