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Waldo Williams
1904 – 1971
Waldo Goronwy Williams is regarded as a mythical figure. No one who knew him bore a grudge towards him. Whoever spent time in his company would embrace him and treasure every meeting. Young children were always fond of him when he taught them.
Some would insist that he possessed the attributes of a saint. Indeed, he had strong convictions and an impish humour. Someone once said it had taken two thousand years of Welsh civilization to create a man such as Waldo. He had immersed himself in the history of his nation. On one occasion he stood as a Plaid Cymru parliamentary candidate.
Although he lost his deposit he won many admirers. To many Waldo was the greatest Welsh poet of the twentieth century. To others he was a pacifist who happened to be a poet. He was much admired for his insistence on serving two prison sentences for his refusal to pay income tax in protest against war and compulsory military service.
In his mid-fifties he joined the Quakers. He relished the inner stillness he would experience in the Meeting House. He dedicated his only volume of poetry Dail Pren (Tree Leaves) as a source of healing for his nation. We do not know of any other poet who made a similar gesture to his nation.
- TALWRN WALDOA good crowd came to Neuadd Bwlch-y-groes on Tuesday 25 for a recording of two programs by the B.B.C. under … Read more
- Sound recording of an entire concert held at Pisga Chapel Llandissilio on 10 May 2024 which features the first performance of PRESELI.This is a Waldo Williams Society commission from the composer Eric Jones on Waldo Williams’s poem. Capel PISGA Llandysilio NOS … Read more
- Annual lecture 2024 – Menna Elfyn, and moreWaldo: Poet of the Myriad Minorities This year’s Annual Cymdeithas Waldo Lecture will be held on Aberystwyth University campus on … Read more