‘I am a Pilgrim’: Williams Pantycelyn (2)
We dive a little deeper into Pantycelyn’s hymns in this episode, concentrating on one theme. After discussing the popular hymn beginning ‘Pererin wyf mewn anial dir’ (‘I am a pilgrim in a desert’), we note that that was neither the only time nor the first time that Williams begun a composition with these two words. After demonstrating the fact that he recycled elements of his own work throughout his long literary career, we get down to considering the meaning ans significance of the ‘pilgrim’ – as a theme, as an image and as a persona – in the work of the great Methodist hymnist.
This leads us to discuss the influence of John Bunyan and his book Pilgrim’s Progress upon Pantycelyn’s work and upon Welsh hymnology in general. And we had to mention Saunders Lewis’ views on Williams and Bunyan in passing as well!
