*Scroll down for English*
Y cof. Un o’n doniau mwyaf pwerus fel pobl yw’r gallu i gofio. Fel unigolion, defnyddiwn ein cof i gyflawni ein bywyd beunyddiol. Ond mae’r cof hefyd yn creu cymdeithas. Y cof-ar-y-cyd sy’n caniatáu i ni berthyn i’n gilydd, ac mae cydgofio geiriau cerddi yn rhan bwysig o’r perthyn hwnnw. Mae Ar Gof yn gasgliad sydd â’r nod o’n cynorthwyo i gofio cofio.
Three books that will encourage readers to remember a complete poem. Each book opens with a familiar verse, with each following page showing some of the words missing. With a visual 'nudge', readers will be encouraged to remember the lost words.
Adolygiad gan Llio Mai Hughes
Mae cerddi a barddoniaeth yn bethau a ddylid eu hadrodd ar lafar, eu dweud allan yn uchel a’u perfformio. Dyna sut y mae sawl hen gerdd wedi llwyddo i’n cyrraedd heddiw – am eu bod wedi eu hadrodd ar lafar a’u pasio o genhedlaeth i genhedlaeth nes cael eu cofnodi ar bapur.
Dw i’n siŵr fod sawl un ohonoch chi wedi gorfod dysgu cerdd neu ddarn o gerdd ar gyfer cystadlu mewn eisteddfod neu ar gyfer arholiad yn yr ysgol. Mae hyn yn ffordd dda o sicrhau bod y genhedlaeth nesaf yn cael eu cyflwyno i waith ein beirdd, ond efallai bod eu dysgu ar gyfer parti llefaru neu i basio arholiad yn tynnu peth o’r mwynhad o’r arfer. Efallai fy mod yn anghywir, ond dw i’n credu fod y traddodiad o gofio ac adrodd cerddi er mwynhad wedi dirywio, a’n bod mewn perygl o golli’r hen arfer o’u perfformio a’u rhannu ymsyg ein gilydd. Mae’n bosib iawn mai dyma sydd y tu ôl i’r adnodd hwn gan Atebol gan i Mererid Hopwood nodi mai pwrpas casgliad Ar Gof yw ein ‘cynorthwyo i gofio cofio’.
Yn ‘Y lloer a’r sêr’ ceir tri phennill, dau draddodiadol sef ‘Pan fo seren’ a ‘Tri pheth’ ac ‘Atgo’ gan Hedd Wyn, gyda’r cwbl yn cyfeirio at naill ai’r lloer neu’r sêr. Dyma syniad gwych, yn fy marn i, a ffordd syml ond effeithiol iawn o’n helpu i gofio cerddi ar ein cof. Mae dyluniad y llyfrynnau yn arbennig - gyda’r ysgrifen a’r lluniau metalig yn drawiadol iawn yn erbyn y cefndir du. Ceir y pennill cyfan ar dudalen cyntaf pob llyfryn, a fesul tudalen mae rhai o eiriau’r llinellau’n diflannu. Mae’r dull yn syml iawn, ond wir yn gweithio, ac roedd yn syndod imi pa mor gyflym y gwnes i gofio’r penillion. Yn glyfar iawn, mae’r lluniau sydd wedi’u cynnwys yn y llyfrynnau yno i’n cynorthwyo hefyd, gan eu bod yn darlunio’r hyn sy’n digwydd yn y penillion ac yn rhoi proc i’r cof os na fydd rhan o linell yn dod yn rhwydd.
Dw i wir yn credu fod yma adnodd defnyddiol iawn i bobl o bob oedran a dull effeithiol iawn i sicrhau bod rhai o drysorau llenyddol y genedl yn cael eu cadw ar gof ac ar flaenau ein tafod unwaith yn rhagor. Byddai’n adnodd hynod ddefnyddiol i’r disgyblion sy’n astudio cerddi ar gyfer arholiadau TGAU neu Lefel A, neu hyn yn oed i fyfyrwyr prifysgol, gan fod modd efelychu’r dull yn hawdd iawn. Dw i’n mawr obeithio y bydd pecyn arall yn cael ei ryddhau yn fuan er mwyn i mi gael ychwanegu at fy repertoire.
Poems and poetry in general are things that should be told, said out loud and performed in my opinion. Several older, traditional poems have managed to reach us today through this method – orally recounted and passed from generation to generation until they were finally recorded on paper.
I’m sure that many of you have had to learn a poem or part of one for school assembly, for an exam or perhaps whilst competing in the Eisteddfod. The fact that they are part of our curriculum is a good way of ensuring that the next generation is introduced to the work of our forefathers, but perhaps teaching them derives some of the enjoyment from them. After all, when some of these were written hundreds of years ago, I doubt the bard expected that they would be used in this way – for exams and such. I may be wrong, but I think the tradition of remembering and re-counting poetry for enjoyment has diminished somewhat, and we are almost in danger of losing the old traditions of performing them out loud and sharing them with each other. Ask yourself, when was the last time you committed a poem to memory? And now, perhaps when we need it most, Mererid Hopwood has come up with a novel way of helping us ‘remember how to remember’ with her unique collection Ar Gof.
In ‘Y lloer a’r sêr’ we get three verses, two of which are traditional and the third is ‘Atgo’ by Hedd Wyn – all of which refer to the moon or the stars in some way. This is a great idea, in my opinion, and a simple yet effective way of helping us to commit poems to memory. The design of the booklets is unique, and unlike anything else I’ve seen in Welsh- with the writing and metallic pictures looking very impressive and magical against the black background. The whole verse is to be found on the first page of each booklet, and on each subsequent page some of the words disappear. The method is very simple, but it really works, and I was surprised at how quickly I remembered the verses. Cleverly, the pictures included in the booklets are also there to assist us, as they depict what is happening in the poem and give a little prompt if we forget which line comes next.
I really believe that this is a very useful resource for people of all ages and a very effective method to learn lines, whether that be poetry or something else. Indeed, the ‘cover and repeat’ method could easily adapted for other activities. Those pupils studying poetry for GCSEs, A Levels, or at University could make use of this. Perhaps they could even be used with older people as a form of complimentary brain-training, to keep that memory sharp – think of it as a poetic version of sudoku. More importantly, they serve to make sure that some of our nation’s literary treasures are being heard once again. I very much hope that we will get another collection on a different topic.
Cyhoeddwr/publisher: Atebol
Cyhoeddwyd/released: 2020
Pris: £12.99
Learn more about the design process here @ Clout Branding:
