Analysis of “Upon a Welsh Mountain” by BarddyIbach

1. The first line is the beginning of imagery, the snow is upon the cap of the mountain Cwm Idwal. 
2. More imagery, of an Eagle flying over the mountain.
3. More imagery of the cavern beneath the mountain, splintering into rocks the color of bone, and crystal.
4. Here we have the first hint at a metaphor. "Legends lost in prayer." The legends lost in prayer, it seems like the mountain is hindering the prayers or hindering the legends. Perhaps it means ancient celts who climbed the mountain for rituals, or perhaps it means the "Legends were lost in prayer." The legends were lost because of prayer. Which, invokes a sort of strange notion that the mountain is hindering prayers, and listening, thwarting, overshadowing.
5. The firstyear birds sing their songs.
6. Over the mountain's "Brooks". Bach is a name which means "Brook" or "Dweller near the brook." So, it is evoking a water source. Or, perhaps the poem is saying it is a Bachelor. Which, the second meaning is far less likely, and I believe it is evoking the sense of the surname "Bach" which means "Dweller near the brook." So, it is referencing a brook or stream near the mountain.
7. Here is another evocation of the Satanic Imagery. Of one hindering prayers. The mountain's name in English is "Devil's Kitchen", and the "Beast" here indwells within the mountain's heart. The poem keeps evoking a sense that the mountain itself is the devil. And it exists and is tangible. The miners, within the mountain's heart, are working for their gems and gold---infering there is wealth being offered by the mountain, though likely not integral for the meaning of the poem. Only that there are people mining the "Beast" for its jewels.
8. The mountain is the narrator, and its "Song" could qwell a "Sailor's Quest". Probably talking about the treasure found in the mountain. It might even be boasting of the author, talking about the quality of the poem, that the poem can fetch a fair price, and this description of the mountain is worth something.
9. Imagery of the mountain's facade, where heather bloom. Heather is a form of colorful flower with rich pinks and purple tones. On the mountain, the heather blooms.
10. On the edge of the mountain's existence, "Thistle Spawn." Maybe a subconscious reference to Christ's parable about the heart overclouded with thistle. The mountain has wealth within it; the devil has wealth to offer, and it is like thistle.
11 - 12. Invoking imagery of the fog upon the mountain, and its peak resembling a melted crown.
13 - 15. The Starling is a faux blackbird. Not sure if the author was invoking the "Blackbird", as the Blackbird is an emblem of Poetry, symbolizing the Poet. Yet, the birds fly upon the mountain, perch, land upon the boughs of the trees which grow upon the mountain. They also "Chuckle" giving a sort of onomatopoeia of the bird's sound. Also using a word already coined, which was clever. Probably evoking that the poets who get their wealth from the mountain are not true poets. They're starlings not blackbirds.
16. "Scree" is rubble that usually exists on the side of a mountain. The birds are perching around all of these features, of trees, scree and mountain facade.
17 - 18. Ravens call, and they perch, and the mountain is being described in all of its geological features.
19. The ravens call a "Tailor's Tale" of "Frosty fell and reason" of "Wounded hound" and "Fatal Moorland Bell." It is invoking the solitary and isolated nature of the bells and ravens calling through the "Moorlands". A moorland is an uncultivated hilltop. So, these sounds are echoing.
20 - 21. Here, it is saying, "Love not my debris" and "Love not my Princely Tors". The monuments of victories in the past, a cairn is a monument left. And it is signifying a "Victory". It is saying to love not the sustenance of the mountain, or the sustenance of the devil. It exists. It is an obelisk. It is ever present. But, don't desire it. Don't desire it to bring you victory.
22 - 23. Time erodes the bairns. The children. Time always erodes away the children of men. It even erodes the rock facade of the Mountain. Wealth fades, and any sustenance from the devil will fade also.
24 - 25. Imagery, and giving the English Name of  "Cwm Idwal", to liken the mountain to the devil. Also, to prosperity---
26 - 28. Down a "Griffon's" back, imagery of the mountain. Evoking power lust, trying to obtain great feats through the means of wicked prosperity.
29 -32. The last line talks about how there is nothing to add or take away from the mountain. Just like there was nothing to add or take away from the devil. He was perfect, and didn't need pomp, pride or splendor. He just was. Evocative of Ezekiel 28's King of Tyre. He was perfectly created, and we will be destroyed if we accept his wealth.

Thoughts: The poem invokes the Inevitability of the Mountain, the existence of the mountain. It can bring you wealth, it can bring you power, but don't covet it. Like the Devil. Also, invoked in the poem is the meaning of the worldly, seeking power and wealth and honor, when at the end of the day, the Mountain was inevitable, and it outlasted all of the sons who sought its wealth. There is hubris in the mountain, though. That it is neither the greatest mountain in the world, nor is it the most beautiful. It is simply a mountain, but it isn't the place to seek fortune. The poem almost evades the seeking of fortune, like one ought not seek it at all.

Further note: I don't think the author was aware of this meaning, however, he was intending a poem to divine the meaning of the mountain, Cwm Idwal. The poem was given by the providential hand, to sculpt a meaning. I'm pretty sure the miners were mining coal, not gold or diamonds, but the fact is great wealth lay contained in the mountain, and being that I think it is coal, there's an evocation of where you source your poems. The great poets, the ones who are more like "Blackbirds" not "Starlings" are the poets who sing from the purest sources. They don't draw their chaff from impure sources. They don't draw their source, and it comes out as coal. Rather, they seek the highest mountain peaks. The Devil, imbued in the mountain, is like an impure source, low and not high. He gives you coal, black lung, and drawing from the sources which he offers you is like drawing from an unclean source. A source that is harmful for the environment. However, that begs the question of whether the poet was himself drawing from a pure source, and in a certain way I think he was, as I don't think he was consciously intending the metaphor. When bringing to bear imagery of crowns, beasts, and the Devil's Kitchen---the mountain itself seeks a subconscious meaning. It needs its fulfillment through the verse, to seek the mountain's meaning. And the mountain has its meaning.

Is the poet a blackbird or a starling? That's the question. Does he draw his poetry from pure sources, or does he draw it from impure sources? The mountain itself is a pure source, and the metaphor is latent within the mountain, in all forms. So, the poet is a Blackbird, but critiquing those who seek to this mountain---like those who go up to it to pray---these are not true poets, but will be washed away by time.

After a day's worth of thought: It seems the poem is imagery of the mountain. Taking the form as if the mountain were alive and is a person, or living entity. However, I find the mountain itself carries its own meaning, which the poem sought to ascertain.

More Thoughts on "Upon a Welsh Mountain" in Verse

I find one writer of the skill I desire.
One who has better craft than myself.
aPhilosophical---
I interpolate Nietzsche with 
"A Wanderer Above the Fog";
I find meaning in the mountain
That it is Satan.
I find a perfect metaphor.

Yet, what did the author intend---?
It is beautiful.

The Mountain lives.
Has veins, a back;
It has a belly. It has a home and halls.
Is the mountain a Barron?

Intended by its author,
The mountain is alive---
It has "Autumn's Veins"
It has white hair
And it has thistles for body hair upon 
Its feet and arms and back.
The mountain is a man.

The wandering of thoughts are interesting---
The chimes. Sometimes the chimes bring true wisdom;
Yet is it what the author intends to say?
Imprinting onto the poem---
Interpolating: interpreting,
It forms into an objective meaning---
There is truth, yet it ought to be patiently pursued
With many wrong utterances.
For that is freedom.
It is not even that the mountain is a mountain
But that it exists. It is alive,
Life flows to and from its ravines;
And that brings me peace.

Barddylbach, Alwyn. "Upon a Welsh Mountain." Allpoetry.com, 2019. https://allpoetry.com/poem/14711100-Upon-a-Welsh-Mountain-by-Barddylbach?c=1166423195.  7/25/2021. Web.