Chris'Mas Invitation
Come down to-morrow night; an' mind,Don't leaeve thy fiddle-bag behind;We'll sheaeke a lag, an' drink a cupO' eaele, to keep wold Chris'mas up.
An' let thy sister teaeke thy eaerm,The walk won't do her any harm;There's noo dirt now to spweil her frock,The ground's a-vroze so hard's a rock.
You won't meet any stranger's feaece,But only naighbours o' the pleaece,An' Stowe, an' Combe; an' two or dreeVrom uncle's up at Rookery.
An' thou wu'lt vind a rwosy feaece,An' peaeir ov eyes so black as sloos,The prettiest woones in all the pleaece,--I'm sure I needen tell thee whose.
We got a back-bran', dree girt logsSo much as dree ov us can car;We'll put em up athirt the dogs,An' meaeke a vier to the bar.
An' ev'ry woone shall tell his teaele,An' ev'ry woone shall zing his zong,An' ev'ry woone wull drink his eaeleTo love an' frien'ship all night long.
We'll snap the tongs, we'll have a ball,We'll sheaeke the house, we'll lift the ruf,We'll romp an' meaeke the maidens squall,A catchen o'm at blind-man's buff.
Zoo come to-morrow night; an' mind,Don't leaeve thy fiddle-bag behind;We'll sheaeke a lag, an' drink a cupO' eaele, to keep wold Chris'mas up.
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.]
- combe n.
- That unwatered portion of a valley which forms its continuation beyond and above the most elevated spring that issues into it. [AS. comb, prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. cwm a dale, valley.]
- dree v. i.
- To be able to do or endure.
- rookery n.
- The breeding place of a colony of rooks; also, the birds themselves.
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- 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
Chris'Mas Invitation 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, Chris'Mas Invitation, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/chris-mas-invitation.html, id L02106.
Form and metre
Chris'Mas Invitation is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% 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 AABB mindA · behindA · cupB · upB
- 2 AABB eaermA · harmA · frockB · rockB
- 3 AA-- feaeceA · pleaeceA · dree · rookery
- 4 ABAB feaeceA · sloosB · pleaeceA · whoseB
- 5 ABAB logsA · carB · dogsA · barB
- 6 ABAB teaeleA · zongB · eaeleA · longB
- 7 ABAB ballA · rufB · squallA · buffB
- 8 AABB mindA · behindA · cupB · upB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come down to-morrow night; an' mind, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Don't leaeve thy fiddle-bag behind; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We'll sheaeke a lag, an' drink a cup | 8 | ········ |
| O' eaele, to keep wold Chris'mas up. | 9 | ········· |
| An' let thy sister teaeke thy eaerm, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The walk won't do her any harm; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There's noo dirt now to spweil her frock, | 8 | ········ |
| The ground's a-vroze so hard's a rock. | 8 | ········ |
| You won't meet any stranger's feaece, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But only naighbours o' the pleaece, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' Stowe, an' Combe; an' two or dree | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom uncle's up at Rookery. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| An' thou wu'lt vind a rwosy feaece, | 8 | ········ |
| An' peaeir ov eyes so black as sloos, | 8 | ········ |
| The prettiest woones in all the pleaece,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I'm sure I needen tell thee whose. | 8 | ········ |
| We got a back-bran', dree girt logs | 8 | ········ |
| So much as dree ov us can car; | 8 | ········ |
| We'll put em up athirt the dogs, | 8 | ········ |
| An' meaeke a vier to the bar. | 7 | ······· |
| An' ev'ry woone shall tell his teaele, | 9 | ········· |
| An' ev'ry woone shall zing his zong, | 8 | ········ |
| An' ev'ry woone wull drink his eaele | 10 | ·········· |
| To love an' frien'ship all night long. | 8 | ········ |
| We'll snap the tongs, we'll have a ball, | 8 | ········ |
| We'll sheaeke the house, we'll lift the ruf, | 8 | ········ |
| We'll romp an' meaeke the maidens squall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A catchen o'm at blind-man's buff. | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo come to-morrow night; an' mind, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Don't leaeve thy fiddle-bag behind; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We'll sheaeke a lag, an' drink a cup | 8 | ········ |
| O' eaele, to keep wold Chris'mas up. | 9 | ········· |
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