How did Dafydd ap Gwilym use the cywydd form?

Dafydd ap Gwilym is credited with establishing, if not inventing, the cywydd verse form in 14th-century Wales. He utilized this form to revolutionize Welsh literature by introducing a level of simplicity, freshness, and naturalness that departed from the esoteric, archaic diction of the earlier gogynfeirdd (poets of the princes).123

Technically, the cywydd is a short ode composed of seven-syllable lines arranged in rhyming couplets, where one rhyme is accented and the other is unaccented. Dafydd employed the cywydd gaeth—a stricter version of the form—in which each line is embellished with cynghanedd, a complex system of alliteration and internal rhyme.12

Beyond the technical structure, Dafydd used the cywydd to shift the thematic focus of Welsh poetry. While he was trained in the traditional bardic arts, he incorporated themes inspired by the wandering minstrels and trouvères of France. His cywyddau are particularly celebrated for their lightheartedness and their elaborate, vivid descriptions of nature and love, which set the standard for modern Welsh poetry.32