The song ‘Calon Lân’ will be used at a family funeral next week. Unfortunately, many of the wider family, both Welsh and English, do not speak Welsh.
I wondered if anyone has the translation in a sensible English version - Google translate is appalling in such a context, due to the subleties of poetry!
The deceased was Welsh, though brought up during the times when Welsh was virtually banned, so missed out on learning it, but she loved this song. Very sad…
Thanks in anticipation…
http://www.madog.org/dysgwyr/caneuon/can03.html
Translations are notoriously difficult so look around the Internet for more versions if you like.
Hope this helps you to understand this wonderful hymn.
Diolch @Macky! Thanks! I appreciate the difficulty of translation. This is definitely an improvement on G Translate!
One thing I have noticed - strange that I shouldn’t have seen it before - the word ‘lân’ derived from glan or maybe glân… As a Methodist minister I’m aware of ‘yr ysbryd glân’! The Holy Spirit… it does add a different slant to the usual translation of ‘pure’ or ‘clean’. Really helpful…
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I found this for the verse and chorus:
I’d not ask a life that’s easy
Gold and pearls so little mean
Rather seek a heart that’s joyful
Heart that’s honest, heart that’s clean
Chorus
Heart that’s clean and filled with virtue,
Fairer far than lilies white,
Only pure hearts praise God truly,
Praise him all the day and night.
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Thanks @Gog . I think that the link that Macky sent is sufficient for my purposes but what you give is clever in that it appears at first sight to fit the metre of the music. That’s hard to do in translation…
We are not intending to sing at the funeral as there will only be a very small number and I am probably the only one who could attempt it in Welsh! The deceased loved the song and it’s as a mark of respect and because she would have liked it that it’s being used.
The version I found will fit the music written by John Hughes, however I only have the first verse and chorus. Its in our choir notes but we always sing Calon Lan in Welsh.
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