Over the high hills of Wales stride, stride,
Straddle them, giant-wise,
Under gigantic skies,
Strong-legged, bridge the wide
Grass-lush valleys of a paradise.

To the breast-round mountains cling, cling,
Red tipped at sunrise
Under reddening skies,
Deep with passion, nipple-dark, to bring
Fire, desire
For the grass-lush valleys of paradise.

The pure, grass-lush valleys of paradise,
Penetrate, penetrate, and, with dark fire, create,
Deep to the depths of desire, and giant-wise,
Under the reddened and gigantic skies,
With the high hills, breast-round and passionate,
Mate.....
 

Namur King

(1915-68)

***

Wales is literally the “Land of my Fathers". My dad, who was born in Blackwood, near Pontllanfraith, taught me the word Hiraeth when I was a kid.

Hiraeth is a Welsh word, tricky to translate with accuracy. It has an intensely emotional, felt quality, difficult to convey. In terms of meaning, it has connotations of homesickness & nostalgia, an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret. It has been described as homesickness for a home you cannot return to, or that maybe never was; it conveys nostalgia and yearning and grief for lost places.

This is the best that the Oxford English Dictionary, (Third Edition, June 2020), where it is a new entry, can do:
 

"Hiraeth, n

Originally and chiefly in the context of Wales and Welsh culture: deep longing for a person or thing which is absent or lost; yearning; nostalgia; spec. homesickness."

When my dad wrote it, he had been living away from his birthplace, for over two decades. It's clear his beloved homeland was still present in his heart.