1. Activity A Activity B Activity C Activity D Activity E Activity F
Welsh writing in English
The Birthright
– by Eiluned Lewis –
Choose a task
Choose a task based on the poem.
Activity A
Activity B
Activity C
Activity D
Activity E
Activity F

2. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity A
What is a ‘birthright’? How would you describe in your own words what the poet believes is our birthright?
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We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
Whose birthright is she describing?
Look at the pronouns used in the poem. What do they tell you about whose birthright the poet is describing? Click to show pronouns.
Try substituting ‘I’ and ‘me’ to see what difference it would make.

3. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity B
The poem has the simplicity of a child’s poem or a nursery rhyme. How is this simplicity achieved?
Menu
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
Look at the structure of each stanza. How would you divide each stanza into sections? What do you notice about this in each stanza?
Click to show sections.
Look at the use of rhyme in each stanza. What do you notice?
Click to show rhymes.
Are there other kinds of repetition that you notice?
Are there any long or difficult words in the poem? Why has the poet made these choices?

4. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity C
What are the main qualities of the poet’s ‘birthright’?
Menu
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
The poem begins and ends with direct references to the ‘birthright’ the poet loves. Why do you think the poem is structured in that way? What does each stanza say about the important qualities of her birthright?
Click to show highlighted sections

5. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity D
Look again at the first stanza. Not everyone is entitled to the poet’s idea of a ‘birthright’. Who is excluded and why do you think the poet excludes them?
Eiluned Lewis was born and grew up on a large farm in Mid Wales, before spending her adult life in the south of England. How might this have affected her idea of her birthright?
Menu
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
What do you think is meant by ‘shifting faces’?
What picture is established in this stanza of the kind of place which is the poet’s birthright? Do you agree with the poet that this might be your birthright too?
Why is the birthright described as ‘a secret joy’?

6. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity E
How does the poet portray her view of the landscape of her birthright in this stanza?
Menu
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
Look at the first two lines. The word ‘kindred’ is important here. Why do you think the poet used it? Why does the poet use the phrase ‘lordly things’ to describe what is shown in the rest of the stanza?
Which senses are used to describe nature here? Click to highlight some sense words.
Look at the ‘lordly things’ listed here. What kind of picture is created by these choices?

7. Welsh writing in English The Birthright – by Eiluned Lewis –
Activity F
In what ways does the poet suggest that this landscape influences those who have it ‘by right’?
Menu
We who were born
In country places,
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.  i
For we are kindred
To lordly things,
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings;
To pike and salmon,
To bull and horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.
Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams:
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.
In the previous stanza, actual creatures and plants were included. Here, a different approach is taken in describing the landscape. Look at the first four lines. How is the landscape described here? Do you consider this version of the landscape to be ‘our’ birthright?
Look at the last four lines. What has ‘shaped our dreams’ and fills our ‘vision’ here? How would you describe the mood of the poem in this stanza?