Tylwyth Teg, a poem in Alexandrine couplets inspired by the river nymphs of Poly-Olbion, by Rona Smith & Holly Robbins, from the SENSS Ormerod Base, Marlborough Church of England School in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
There was a Tylwyth Teg, in River Usk so swift,
She combed her golden hair, with Amphrititae’s gift.
She sits in the cool stream water, next to a waterfall,
A swaine man comes along, gives her a loving call.
He proposes to her, with gentle words so sweet.
And takes her to the bank, and lifts her to her feet
The Tylwyth Teg says, “yes,” to this overture so fine.
“No arguments shall we, through all our loving time.”
They wed in late April, an evening of spring sun.
Twelve children did they have, bouncy every one.
They learned to swim at two. They grew up strong and tall
All school work they had done. Thoughtful were they all.
People everywhere said, that they had never found.
A happ’yer fam’ly in, the countryside around.
One wicked stormy day, their life did go awry.
The rage that followed this, like black clouds in the sky.
In blinking of an eye, Tywith Teg said goodbye.
No tears did she shed, but heard the children cry.
Her husband sad at home, no longer did she love.
She quietly slipped away, back into the flood.
La Rivieres (Epithalamions for the Rivers of Poly-Olbion) by Sophie Roberts, Independent Student, Oxfordshire
The rivers flow in and out of the ocean so blue
In the evenings’ moon glow
The angels blew on their golden flutes
As the doves sang their romantic tunes for June
The lilies serenade the rivers as they flowed
In and out of the ocean so blue and so clear
You could feel the trickles of the sunbeams in the air
The rivers met after a glowing sunset
Their light flowed in and out of the ocean so blue
Her love for him was stronger then.
The wind could blow their petals through
The mist of everlasting hope
On the sands of dreams, the rivers lapped the oranges
So crisp and juicy, the rain water paraded across the
Shells of Aphrodite in the ocean so blue
The goddess of love blessed
The rivers in pure pearls of simmering
Silver and bronze as the ocean so blue kissed
The rivers in a rainbow of an enrolled mist
On the seashore, the animals slept in
A peaceful bliss as the rivers
Entwined their colours as one cocoon
Of love in the ocean so blue
The Ocean and the Stream (Epithalamions for the Rivers of Poly-Olbion) by Sophie Roberts, Independent Student, Oxfordshire
During the evenings
Of pure desire an Ocean
Of foamy waters floats
upon the sand
Near a palm tree there
Is a Stream that awaits
For her love to sway
In her direction for there’s
A celebration
Golden Waters spray upon
The northern shore as
Penguins perform a dance
In a rosy prance of
Lover’s chance
The Ocean laps up the feelings
For his dream
His golden Stream
As the sun leads the lovers
The Stream and the Ocean sing
For love is the
real emotion in their romantic celebration