Bermudas (cerdd)

Cerdd Saesneg gan y bardd Andrew Marvell yw "Bermudas" a ysgrifennwyd yn y 1650au. Mae'n dathlu'r Saeson a hwyliasant i wladychu Ynysoedd Bermwda ar ben draw Cefnfor yr Iwerydd.

Bermudas

Enghraifft o'r canlynol	cerdd
Awdur	Andrew Marvell
Iaith	Saesneg

Bermudas

Where the remote Bermudas ride
In th’ ocean’s bosom unespy’d,
From a small boat, that row’d along,
The list’ning winds receiv’d this song.

What should we do but sing his praise
That led us through the wat’ry maze
Unto an isle so long unknown,
And yet far kinder than our own?
Where he the huge sea-monsters wracks,
That lift the deep upon their backs,
He lands us on a grassy stage,
Safe from the storm’s and prelates’ rage.
He gave us this eternal spring
Which here enamels everything,
And sends the fowls to us in care,
On daily visits through the air.
He hangs in shades the orange bright,
Like golden lamps in a green night;
And does in the pomegranates close
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows.
He makes the figs our mouths to meet
And throws the melons at our feet,
But apples plants of such a price,
No tree could ever bear them twice.
With cedars, chosen by his hand,
From Lebanon, he stores the land,
And makes the hollow seas that roar
Proclaim the ambergris on shore.
He cast (of which we rather boast)
The Gospel’s pearl upon our coast,
And in these rocks for us did frame
A temple, where to sound his name.
Oh let our voice his praise exalt,
Till it arrive at heaven’s vault;
Which thence (perhaps) rebounding, may
Echo beyond the Mexic Bay.

Thus sung they in the English boat
An holy and a cheerful note,
And all the way, to guide their chime,
With falling oars they kept the time.

Ysbrydolwyd Marvell i ysgrifennu'r gerdd hon drwy ei gysylltiad â John Oxenbridge, yr hwn a oedd yn un o gymrodyr Coleg Eton ac yn gomisiynydd dros Ynysoedd Bermwda. Bu Marvell yn byw yn nhŷ Oxenbridge tra'n weithio, dan dâl Oliver Cromwell, yn diwtor i William Dutton, ac mae'n debyg yno fe gyfansoddodd y gerdd hon. Dan ddylanwad duwioldeb y teulu Oxenbridge, a phiwritaniaeth Cromwell, dyma'r cyfnod i Marvell ddechrau ymdrin â themâu crefyddol yn ei farddoniaeth, ac yn aml yn lliwio cysylltiadau rhwng y ffydd Gristnogol a gwladgarwch y Saeson.

Mesur pedwar corfan (tetramedr) sydd gan y gerdd, mewn cwpledi sy'n odli o linellau wythsill. Trefnir yn dri phennill, y pedair llinell gyntaf yn agor y gerdd a'r pedair llinell olaf yn ei chloi. Cyfunir y llinellau eraill i gyd yn un bennill hir.