DAFYDD AB GWILYM (c. 1340-c. 1400)  , son of Gwilym Gam and Ardudful Fychan, greatest of the

medieval Welsh poets, was born at Bro Gynin, Cardiganshire, about the year 1340 . Educated by a scholarly uncle, Llewelyn ab Gwilym Fychan of Emlyn, he became steward to his kinsman, Ivor Had of Maesaleg, Monmouthshire, who also appointed him instructor to his daughter . The latter arrangement leading to an attachment between tutor and pupil, the girl was banished to a convent in Anglesey, whither the poet followed her, taking service in an adjacent monastery, but on returning to Maesaleg he was permitted to retain his stewardship . He was elected chief bard of Glamorgan and became household bard to Ivor Hael . At Rhosyr in North Wales he met Morfudd Lawgam, to whom he addressed 147 amatory odes . In consequence of attempting to elope with this lady, Dafydd ab Gwilym, being unable to pay the fine demanded by her husband, was imprisoned . Liberated by the goodwill of his friends, he went back to Maesaleg, and after the death of his patron, retired to his birthplace, Bro Gynin . Tradition states that he was a man of noble appearance, and his poems bear evidence of high mental culture . He was acquainted with the works of Homer, Virgil, Ovid and Horace, and was also a student of Italian literature . Especially remark-able as a poet of nature in an age when more warlike themes were chosen by his contemporaries, his poems entitled " The Lark," "The Wind" and "The Mist" are amongst his finest efforts . He has been called the Petrarch, the Ovid, and (by George Borrow) the Horace of Wales . His poems were almost all written in the cywydd form: a short ode not divided into stanzas, each line having the same number of syllables .

The poet died about the year 1400, and according to tradition was buried in the graveyard of the monastery of Strata

Florida, in Cardiganshire . See also under CELT; Celtic Literature, iv . Welsh .