A Wold Friend
Oh! when the friends we us'd to know,'V a-been a-lost vor years; an' whenZome happy day do come, to showTheir feaezen to our eyes ageaen,Do meaeke us look behind, John,Do bring wold times to mind, John,Do meaeke hearts veel, if they be steel,All warm, an' soft, an' kind, John.
When we do lose, still gay an' young,A vaice that us'd to call woone's neaeme,An' after years ageaen his tongueDo sound upon our ears the seaeme,Do kindle love anew, John,Do wet woone's eyes wi' dew, John,As we do sheaeke, vor friendship's seaeke,His vist an' vind en true, John.
What tender thoughts do touch woone's soul,When we do zee a meaed or hillWhere we did work, or play, or stroll,An' talk wi' vaices that be still;'Tis touchen vor to treaece, John,Wold times drough ev'ry pleaece, John;But that can't touch woone's heart so much,As zome wold long-lost feaece, John.
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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Wold Friend 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 Wold Friend, 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-wold-friend.html, id L02130.
Form and metre
A Wold Friend is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 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 A-A-BB-B knowA · when · showA · ageaen · johnB · johnB · steel · johnB
- 2 ABABCC-C youngA · neaemeB · tongueA · seaemeB · johnC · johnC · seaeke · johnC
- 3 ABABCC-C soulA · hillB · strollA · stillB · johnC · johnC · much · johnC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! when the friends we us'd to know, | 8 | ········ |
| 'V a-been a-lost vor years; an' when | 9 | ········· |
| Zome happy day do come, to show | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their feaezen to our eyes ageaen, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Do meaeke us look behind, John, | 7 | ······· |
| Do bring wold times to mind, John, | 7 | ······· |
| Do meaeke hearts veel, if they be steel, | 8 | ········ |
| All warm, an' soft, an' kind, John. | 7 | ······· |
| When we do lose, still gay an' young, | 8 | ········ |
| A vaice that us'd to call woone's neaeme, | 8 | ········ |
| An' after years ageaen his tongue | 8 | ········ |
| Do sound upon our ears the seaeme, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Do kindle love anew, John, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| Do wet woone's eyes wi' dew, John, | 7 | ······· |
| As we do sheaeke, vor friendship's seaeke, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His vist an' vind en true, John. | 7 | ······· |
| What tender thoughts do touch woone's soul, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When we do zee a meaed or hill | 8 | ········ |
| Where we did work, or play, or stroll, | 8 | ········ |
| An' talk wi' vaices that be still; | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis touchen vor to treaece, John, | 7 | ······· |
| Wold times drough ev'ry pleaece, John; | 7 | ······· |
| But that can't touch woone's heart so much, | 8 | ········ |
| As zome wold long-lost feaece, John. | 7 | ······· |
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.