In Welsh-languagepoetry, cynghanedd is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of cynghanedd show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh verse forms, such as the awdl and cerdd dafod. Though of ancient origin, cynghanedd and variations of it are still used today by many Welsh-language poets. A number of poets have experimented with using cynghanedd in English-language verse, for instance Gerard Manley Hopkins. Some of Dylan Thomas's work is also influenced by cynghanedd.
Forms of ''cynghanedd''
Note that ⟨Dd⟩, ⟨Ll⟩, and ⟨Ch⟩ are single consonants in the Welsh alphabet and each represent a single sound.
''Cynghanedd groes'' ("cross-harmony")
All consonants surrounding the main stressed vowel before the caesura must be repeated after it in the same order. However, the final consonants of the final words of each half of the line must be different, as must the main stressed vowel of each half. For example, from the poem , by the fifteenth-century poet Gwerful Mechain: Here we see the pattern present on both sides of the caesura. The main stressed vowels are ⟨a⟩ and ⟨wy⟩. In cynghanedd groes there are generally no consonants in the second half of the line which are not part of the consonantal echoing . The vowels other than those under the main stresses may be of any kind.
''Cynghanedd draws'' (partial "cross-harmony")
Exactly as in cynghanedd groes, except that there are consonants at the beginning of the second half of the line which are not present in the series of 'echoed' consonants. Cynghanedd draws appears in this line from R. Williams Parry: Here the consonant sequence is repeated with different stressed vowels. It will be noticed that the ⟨n⟩ at the end of the first half plays no part in the cynghanedd: the line-final word iâ instead ends in a vowel; if this word also ended in an ⟨n⟩, there would be generic rhyme between the two words, which is not permitted in cynghanedd. Note that the of the second half of the line is also not part of the cynghanedd: this is the difference between cynghanedd groes and cynghanedd draws. There may be any number of unanswered consonants in this part of the line, as long as the initial sequence of consonants and accent is repeated; compare an extreme possibility in a line of Dafydd ap Gwilym's The Girls of Llanbadarn, where only one syllable is repeated:
''Cynghanedd sain'' ("sound-harmony")
The cynghanedd sain is characterised by internal rhyme. If the line is divided into three sections by its two caesuras, the first and second sections rhyme, and the third section repeats the consonantal patterns of the second. For example:
''Cynghanedd lusg'' ("drag-harmony")
The final syllable before the caesura in the first half of the line makes full rhyme with the penultimate syllable of the line-final polysyllabic word. For example:
Other details
A comprehensive account of cynghanedd would run to many thousands of words: many sub-types and subtleties must be accounted for by a full description of the system.
