Presence and Absence

Abstract

In 1976 R. S. Thomas delivered the annual literature lecture at the National Eisteddfod at Cardigan. His title was Abercuawg. He begins his lecture as follows: ‘Where is Abercuawg? I’m not certain that this is the right way of asking the question. I’m half afraid that the answer to that is that it does not exist at all. And as a Welshman I do not see any meaning in my life if there is no such place as Abercuawg, a town or village where the cuckoos sing.’¹ The poet tries to trace the origin of the name, but, whenever a place is suggested to him, on his arrival there he finds that it is not Abercuawg. We are fascinated with names and, once given the name, we want to locate that to which the name refers — in this case, apparently, a place. Yet, the role of Abercuawg, the place where cuckoos sing, is not so straightforward as it seems. It is natural to assume that, if the first place we have come across is not Abercuawg, and a second place is not Abercuawg either, it makes sense to hope that some future place we arrive at will, in fact, be Abercuawg. But this is precisely what R. S. Thomas denies. Abercuawg is not a discoverable locality in that sense. ‘The fact that we travel to the locality of Machynlleth to search for the location of Abercuawg and say: “No, this is not it”, means nothing.