A Snowy Night
'Twer at night, an' a keen win' did blowVrom the east under peaele-twinklen stars,All a-zweepen along the white snow;On the groun', on the trees, on the bars,Vrom the hedge where the win' russled drough,There a light-russlen snow-doust did vall;An' noo pleaece wer a-vound that wer lew,But the shed, or the ivy-hung wall.
Then I knock'd at the wold passage doorWi' the win'-driven snow on my locks;Till, a-comen along the cwold vloor,There my Jenny soon answer'd my knocks.Then the wind, by the door a-swung wide,Flung some snow in her clear-bloomen feaece,An' she blink'd wi' her head all a-zide,An' a-chucklen, went back to her pleaece.
An' in there, as we zot roun' the brands,Though the talkers wer mainly the men,Bloomen Jeaene, wi' her work in her hands,Did put in a good word now an' then.An' when I took my leave, though so bleaekWer the weather, she went to the door,Wi' a smile, an' a blush on the cheaekThat the snow had a-smitten avore.
Words in this poem
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Snowy Night is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, Project Gutenberg ebook #21785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Barnes, A Snowy Night, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/a-snowy-night.html, id L02334.
Form and metre
A Snowy Night is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB---- blowA · starsB · snowA · barsB · drough · vall · lew · wall
- 2 ABABCDCD doorA · locksB · vloorA · knocksB · wideC · feaeceD · zideC · pleaeceD
- 3 ABABCDCD brandsA · menB · handsA · thenB · bleaekC · doorD · cheaekC · avoreD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twer at night, an' a keen win' did blow | 9 | ········· |
| Vrom the east under peaele-twinklen stars, | 10 | ·········· |
| All a-zweepen along the white snow; | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| On the groun', on the trees, on the bars, | 9 | ········· |
| Vrom the hedge where the win' russled drough, | 8 | ········ |
| There a light-russlen snow-doust did vall; | 9 | ········· |
| An' noo pleaece wer a-vound that wer lew, | 9 | ········· |
| But the shed, or the ivy-hung wall. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Then I knock'd at the wold passage door | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Wi' the win'-driven snow on my locks; | 8 | ···/···· |
| Till, a-comen along the cwold vloor, | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| There my Jenny soon answer'd my knocks. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Then the wind, by the door a-swung wide, | 9 | ········· |
| Flung some snow in her clear-bloomen feaece, | 9 | ········· |
| An' she blink'd wi' her head all a-zide, | 9 | ········· |
| An' a-chucklen, went back to her pleaece. | 9 | ········· |
| An' in there, as we zot roun' the brands, | 9 | ········· |
| Though the talkers wer mainly the men, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Bloomen Jeaene, wi' her work in her hands, | 9 | ········· |
| Did put in a good word now an' then. | 9 | ········· |
| An' when I took my leave, though so bleaek | 9 | ········· |
| Wer the weather, she went to the door, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Wi' a smile, an' a blush on the cheaek | 9 | ········· |
| That the snow had a-smitten avore. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.