Father Come Hwome
O mother, mother! be the teaeties done?Here's father now a-comen down the track,Hes got his nitch o' wood upon his back,An' such a speaeker in en! I'll be bound,He's long enough to reach vrom groundUp to the top ov ouer tun;'Tis jist the very thing vor Jack an' ITo goo a-colepecksen wi' by an' by.
The teaeties must be ready pretty nigh;Do teaeke woone up upon the fork' an' try.The ceaeke upon the vier, too, 's a-burnen,I be afeaerd: do run an' zee, an' turn en.
Your supper's nearly ready. I've a gotSome teaeties here a-doen in the pot;I wish wi' all my heart I had some meat.I got a little ceaeke too, here, a-beaeken o'nUpon the vier. 'Tis done by this time though.He's nice an' moist; vor when I wer a-meaeken o'nI stuck some bits ov apple in the dough.
Well, father; what d'ye think? The pig got outThis mornen; an' avore we zeed or heaerd en,He run about, an' got out into geaerden,An' routed up the groun' zoo wi' his snout!
O ees, there'll be some mwore: vor after that,I got a job o' trenchen to goo at;An' then zome trees to shroud, an' wood to vell,--Zoo I do hope to rub on pretty wellTill zummer time; an' then I be to cutThe wood an' do the trenchen by the tut.
You wench! why you be always up a-baggen.I be too tired now to-night, I'm sure,To zet a-doen any mwore:Zoo I shall goo up out o' the way o' the waggon.
Words in this poem
- vell n.
- The salted stomach of a calf, used in making cheese; a rennet bag. [Cf. L. vellus the skin of a sheep with the wool on it, a fleece, a hide or pelt, or E. fell a hide.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Father Come Hwome 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, Father Come Hwome, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/child.html, id L18515.
Form and metre
Father Come Hwome is 33 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, 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 10.0 syllables. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -AABB-CC done · trackA · backA · boundB · groundB · tun · iC · byC
- 2 AA-- nighA · tryA · burnen · en
- 3 AA-BCBC gotA · potA · meat · o'nB · thoughC · o'nB · doughC
- 4 A--A outA · en · geaerden · snoutA
- 5 AABBCC thatA · atA · vellB · wellB · cutC · tutC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O mother, mother! be the teaeties done? | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Here's father now a-comen down the track, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Hes got his nitch o' wood upon his back, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' such a speaeker in en! I'll be bound, | 10 | ·········· |
| He's long enough to reach vrom ground | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Up to the top ov ouer tun; | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis jist the very thing vor Jack an' I | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To goo a-colepecksen wi' by an' by. | 11 | ··········· |
| The teaeties must be ready pretty nigh; | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Do teaeke woone up upon the fork' an' try. | 10 | ·········· |
| The ceaeke upon the vier, too, 's a-burnen, | 11 | ··········· |
| I be afeaerd: do run an' zee, an' turn en. | 11 | ··········· |
| Your supper's nearly ready. I've a got | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Some teaeties here a-doen in the pot; | 8 | ········ |
| I wish wi' all my heart I had some meat. | 10 | ·········· |
| I got a little ceaeke too, here, a-beaeken o'n | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Upon the vier. 'Tis done by this time though. | 10 | ·········· |
| He's nice an' moist; vor when I wer a-meaeken o'n | 12 | ············ |
| I stuck some bits ov apple in the dough. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Well, father; what d'ye think? The pig got out | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This mornen; an' avore we zeed or heaerd en, | 11 | ··········· |
| He run about, an' got out into geaerden, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' routed up the groun' zoo wi' his snout! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| O ees, there'll be some mwore: vor after that, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| I got a job o' trenchen to goo at; | 10 | ·········· |
| An' then zome trees to shroud, an' wood to vell,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Zoo I do hope to rub on pretty well | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till zummer time; an' then I be to cut | 10 | ·········· |
| The wood an' do the trenchen by the tut. | 10 | ·········· |
| You wench! why you be always up a-baggen. | 11 | ·····/····· |
| I be too tired now to-night, I'm sure, | 9 | ···/····· |
| To zet a-doen any mwore: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Zoo I shall goo up out o' the way o' the waggon. | 13 | ············· |
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.