A Map of Love

A collection of Welsh love poems across history.

An exhilarating look at the many ways we love and are loved. Following his bestselling The History of Wales in Twelve Poems, M Wynn Thomas turns his attention to love poems from Wales and reflects on what they have to say on the age-old subject of love in its many and varied forms.

Featuring twelve pieces dating from the 14th century to the present, A Map of Love deliberately rejects cliched verses with its poems of regret and of mourning, straight love and gay love, bawdy verses of passion and desire, and gentle meditations on motherhood and marriage. It features anonymous and lesser-known writers as well as household names such as Gillian Clarke and R. S. Thomas, and it includes a previously unpublished poem by Emyr Humphreys. With original illustrations by Ruth Jen Evans throughout, this short but powerful collection will appeal to anyone interested in people and their complex relationships.