Francis Ledwidge retells an old Welsh myth in which the magicians Gwydion and Math build a wife for Llew out of the living materials of springtime. They gather dew-wet branches, violet and meadow-sweet for her face, daisies for her feet, and place a linnet’s song inside a poppy to become her voice. After chanting over their creation for twenty hours, they watch Llew arrive from the azure south and carry away this bride of birds and flowers. The speaker’s tone is gentle and full of quiet wonder, as if he is reciting a lovely charm rather than explaining a story. There is no conflict or doubt here—only the pleasure of making something delicate and alive from nature. The mood is dreamlike and tender, steeped in spring freshness and old enchantment. It feels like a spell spoken aloud, where flowers, birdsong, and sunlight briefly gather into a person.
The Wife of Llew — Summary
And Gwydion said to Math, when it was Spring: "Come now and let us make a wife for Llew." And so they broke broad boughs yet moist with dew, And in a shadow made a magic ring: They took the violet and the meadow-sweet To form her pretty face, and for her feet They built a mound of daisies on a wing, And for her voice they made a linnet sing In the wide poppy blowing for her mouth. And over all they chanted twenty hours. And Llew came singing from the azure south And bore away his wife of birds and flowers.