Your accent tells …

By Rhiannonw

Tue, 06 Dec 2022
  • 651 reads
8 comments
 

They know I’m not English
and ask if I’m Irish,
and when that fails,
they think of Wales.

At home in the culture
of birth and nurture,
all know their home country fails
– even Wales!

These days we all wander
hither and yonder
– if here we finish,
are we now English?

– or British?

Remembering our past
but where we are cast
roots grow and we flourish
new friends – are we Wenglish?

Each land has its beauty,
its language and history,
some honour, some shame,
some pride and some blame,
and some know two loyalties,
to two nationalities –
as from Cymru* while a Brummie,
or ancestral roots remembered,
and honoured.

*Cymru=Wales, ‘y’ pronounced as ‘u’ in ‘Brummie’ and ‘u’ of Cymru pronounced as ‘ie’ of ‘Brummie’

[IP: the English]

Certificate U
Poem
Families
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Wherever I go I shall always be proud of my roots. Knowing I have Welsh and Scottish blood in me too is part of my heritage, which I've been only to pleased to carry through life, but I'm a born West Country girl through and through

I like how you've put this poem together Rhiannon, and told of how when people travel and make new lives, they form new bonds with other parts, whether in this country across the otherside of the world...and so the next generation find out so much more about their past heritage.

Hope I've explained myself right. I did find your poem most inspiring.

Jenny.

 

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Jenny. I'm glad you found it thought-provoking, and yes, we often have quite a mixed heritage, whiich should help us to understand those from many different cultures a bit, and be interested to understand more! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

That's an interesting take on the IP, something I think about a lot, as have been here a third of my lifetime now. I love the island where we live, and was so happy when a lady said not everyone belonged here, but we did. I am not of/from the island, no one I am related to has died or been buried here, but if I go to the mainland, and on the train from Glasgow, to see the sea coming back, and then the ferry, it lifts my heart, and then, the town getting closer as the ferry comes into harbour, I feel I am coming home, which I don't remember the last trips to England. But a true islander would consider me a stranger, and even if my son stayed and had children here, they would be outsiders too.

Have not ever been "proud of my roots", as my parents were not from the bit of England where  I grew up. It is a long time since I believed England to have had a positive impact on the world. But if a person looks like Edith Sitwell can't pretend to be anything else :0)

I always think of you as Welsh, Rhiannon, specially since hearing you sing! And you have the heritage of the language of Wales, continue to spin out the thread of the country's poetry  into the present day. It wouldn't matter where you were, that's you!

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

That's interesting, Di. It's much easier to get fond of a fairly small place with a sense of identity I think, - like an island! England as a whole is a bit of a conglomeration of areas I suppose, and people feel more a kinship to their home area probably.

I don't think it a question for me of 'proud of my roots', more affection for a place and its people who I understand a bit, and glad of some of the influences of the culture. As I said in the poem, there have been from all lands a mixture of regrettable episodes, and kind episodes, and of course that goes for all the people in it, with their varying problems and kindnesses! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

Such an interesting subject. We're all such a hotchpotch of 'identities', even if we don't realise it. I did a course on folklore and fairytale once and the tutor said something very interesting, that's it's not where you're from, but where you're OF that counts. I think it's true that sometimes we find somewhere that just feels right, somewhere we fit in, and have a sympathy with. Although my parents were English, I was born and mainly brought up abroad, only living in this country for short periods of time. I never felt I 'belonged' anywhere then, but as a young adult I found the place I felt I was 'of' and have stayed here. I'm fortunate in that a lot of others do that too, so I don't stick out! 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

It must have been nice to feel more 'at home' eventually and be able to put down roots and be a part of it.

I suppose with a definite accent, it will always display my history of upbringing a bit! Around border land where we now live, the Irish/Welsh mistake isnt made probably, but it used to be common over in the south-east I think, where we lived in early marriage years. My family moved out into the London area with my father's job when I was about 13 for a few years, and I think as a teenager, I enoyed feeling different to my friends, in a friendly way! I'm concerned for and fond of my brith country, but equally I think for where I live now, and for the rest of the world! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by marandina on

Nice to see a reference to Brummie! There's a fine line between patriotism and jingoism which you have walked carefully and skilfully. Yes, Wenglish...we all live on the same planet. Nicely done. Paul 

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Paul. It was fun to try and think it out. And 'Brummie' as an example (which my mother-in-law is proud to call herself, but I haven't lived there!) seemed a useful example as it indicated the pronunciation of 'Cymru' though not quite a rhyme! Rhiannon