Yr wylan deg ar lanw dioer Unlliw ag eiry neu wenlloer, Dilwch yw dy degwch di, Darn fel haul, dyrnfol, heli.
O sea-bird, beautiful upon the tides, White as the moon is when the night abides, Or snow untouched, whose dustless splendour glows Bright as a sunbeam and whose white wing throws A glove of challenge on the salt sea-flood.
Dafydd ap Gwilym, "Yr Wylan" (To the Sea-gull), line 1; translation from Robert Gurney (ed. and trans.) Bardic Heritage (London: Chatto & Windus, 1969), p. 130