The poems translated in this book are known in Welsh as hen benillion or penillion telyn, that is old verses or harp verses.

[Introduction].

Dacw f'annwyl siriol seren,
Hon yw blodau plwyf Llangeinwen;
Dan ei thraed ni phlyg y blewyn
Mwy na'r graig dan droed aderyn.

There is my love, my smiling star,
Llangeinwen parish blooms in her;
No grass-blade bends beneath her stepping
More than the rock beneath the fledgling.