The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse

The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse (1962), edited by Thomas Parry, is an anthology of Welsh-language poetry stretching from Aneirin in the 6th century to Bobi Jones in the 20th. No translations of the poems are provided, but the introduction and notes are in English. It was the first anthology to give the reader a thorough idea of Welsh poetry in its entirety through 1400 years, containing as it does 370 poems, of which 59 cannot be securely attributed while the rest are the work of 146 named poets. It went through eight editions in its first 21 years, and was supplemented in 1977 by the publication of Gwyn Jones's Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English.

Poets included
The names in brackets are bardic names.

Ambrose, William (Emrys)

Aneirin

Blackwell, John (Alun)

Bowen, Ben

Bowen, Euros

Bowen, Geraint

Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr

Dafydd ab Edmwnd

Dafydd ap Gwilym

Dafydd Bach ap Madog Wladaidd

Dafydd Llwyd

Dafydd Nanmor

Davies, Eirian

Davies, H. Emyr

Davies, James Kitchener

Davies, John Glyn

Davies, Pennar

Davies, Walter (Gwallter Mechain)

Davis, David

Edwards, Jenkin Morgan

Edwards, William Thomas (Gwilym Deudraeth)

Eilian, John

Einion ap Gwalchmai

Ellis, Robert (Cynddelw)

Evans, Ellis (Hedd Wyn)

Evans, Evan

Evans, Evan (Ieuan Glan Geirionydd)

Evans, William (Wil Ifan)

Griffiths, Ann

Griffiths, John Gwyn

Gruffudd ab Adda

Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch

Gruffudd ap Maredudd

Gruffudd Gryg

Gruffudd Hiraethog

Gruffudd, Siôn

Gruffydd, William John

Guto'r Glyn

Gutun Owain

Gwalchmai ap Meilyr

Gwyn, Harri

Gwynfardd Brycheiniog

Hooson, Isaac Daniel

Hughes, John Ceiriog

Hughes, John Griffith Moelwyn

Hughes, Mathonwy

Hughes, Richard

Hughes, Thomas Rowland

Hughes, William Roger

Humphreys, Robert

Huw, Rolant

Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd

Ieuan Brydydd Hir

Ieuan Du'r Bilwg

Iolo Goch

Iorwerth Fynglwyd

James, David Emrys (Dewi Emrys)

Jenkin, John (Ioan Siencyn)

Jones, Albert Evans (Cynan)

Jones, Bobi

Jones, David Gwenallt

Jones, Ellis

Jones, Gwilym Richard

Jones, John (Talhaiarn)

Jones, Owen Wynne (Glasynys)

Jones, Thomas

Jones, Thomas (Taliesin o Eifion)

Jones, Thomas (Tudno)

Jones, Thomas Gwynn

Jones, William

Jones, William (Ehedydd Iâl)

Jones, William Ellis (Cawrdaf)

Lewis Glyn Cothi

Lewis Môn

Lewis, Howell Elvet (Elfed)

Lewis, Peter

Lewis, Saunders

Llawdden

Lloyd, Henry (Ap Hefin)

Lloyd-Jones, John

Llwyd, Huw

Llwyd, Morgan

Llygad Gŵr

Llywelyn ab y Moel

Llywelyn ap Gutun

Llywelyn ap Hwlcyn

Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen

Llywelyn-Williams, Alun

Madog ap Gwallter

Madog Benfras

Meilyr

Morgan, John

Morris, Edward

Morris, Lewis

Morris, William

Morris-Jones, John

Morus, Huw

Nicholas, T. E.

Owain Cyfeiliog

Owen, Goronwy

Owen, John Dyfnallt

Owen, Owen Griffith (Alafon)

Parry, Robert Williams

Parry-Williams, Thomas Herbert

Peate, Iorwerth Cyfeiliog

Peryf ap Cedifor

Phillips, Edgar (Trefîn)

Phillips, John (Tegidon)

Phylip, Rhisiart

Phylip, Siôn

Phylip, William

Powel, Salbri

Price, David (Dewi Dinorwig)

Prichard, Caradog

Prys, Edmwnd

Rees, William (Gwilym Hiraethog)

Rhys, Prosser

Richard, Edward

Roberts, Absalom

Roberts, David (Dewi Havhesp)

Roberts, Robert Meirion

Roberts, Robert Silyn

Siôn Cent

Taliesin

Thomas, Ebenezer (Eben Fardd)

Thomas, Evan

Thomas, Thomas Jacob (Sarnicol)

Thomas, William (Gwilym Marles)

Thomas, William (Islwyn)

Tudur Aled

Tudur Penllyn

Tudur, Siôn

Wiliam Llŷn

Williams, Edward (Iolo Morganwg)

Williams, Eliseus (Eifion Wyn)

Williams, Griffith John

Williams, John (Ioan Madog)

Williams, John James

Williams, John Owen (Pedrog)

Williams, Robert (Robert ab Gwilym Ddu)

Williams, Waldo

Williams, William (Caledfryn)

Williams, William (Pantycelyn)

Williams, William Crwys

Williams, William David

Williams, William Nantlais

Wynne, Ellis

Editorial principles
The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse presents its poems in the original Welsh without translation, though the introduction and notes are in English. It is an anthology intended for the general Welsh-speaking reader rather than the professional Celticist, and Parry's editorial practice reflects that fact. It has no apparatus criticus, the endnotes are brief, poems are sometimes printed in abridged form without the use of ellipses or any other indication of cuts, and spelling and punctuation are both modernized. The poems are chosen for their intrinsic literary merit, rather than for their historical interest as representing the various genres prevalent at different periods. Preference is given to poems in the traditional meters, in keeping with the introduction's stress on the continuity of Welsh poetry through the centuries, though the editor also includes hymns, lyrics and other works in the free metres.

Reception
The publication of The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse was widely acclaimed. Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson, writing in The Modern Language Review, welcomed its appearance as long overdue and congratulated Oxford University Press on its choice of Thomas Parry, an eminent Celticist and an accomplished poet in his own right, as editor. He praised Parry's choice of poems, saying he wished nothing in the book left out, and admired the notes and the historical survey of Welsh poetry in the introduction. Édouard Bachellery, in the journal Études Celtiques, likewise acknowledged Parry to be a man of taste and a great scholar, and he considered the book's publication an event of importance. He felt that certain poets were underrepresented, but admitted that limitations of space made some such niggles inevitable. Parry has since been criticised for including only one woman poet, Ann Griffiths, if dubious attributions to women are left aside, and for insufficiently representing the overtly Christian strand in Welsh verse. Nevertheless, despite the later appearance of similar anthologies, it is still considered the most authoritative collection of the best in Welsh poetry, and it remains much used in Welsh universities and schools.