Comen Hwome
As clouds did ride wi' heaesty flight.An' woods did swaey upon the height,An' bleaedes o' grass did sheaeke, belowThe hedge-row bremble's swingen bow,I come back hwome where winds did zwell,In whirls along the woody gleaedes,On primrwose beds, in windy sheaedes,To Burnley's dark-tree'd dell.
There hills do screen the timber's bough,The trees do screen the leaeze's brow,The timber-sheaeded leaeze do bearA beaeten path that we do wear.The path do stripe the leaeze's zide,To willows at the river's edge.Where hufflen winds did sheaeke the zedgeAn' sparklen weaeves did glide.
An' where the river, bend by bend,Do draein our meaed, an' mark its end,The hangen leaeze do teaeke our cows,An' trees do sheaede em wi' their boughs,An' I the quicker beaet the road,To zee a-comen into view,Still greener vrom the sky-line's blue,Wold Burnley our abode.
Words in this poem
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- 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.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Comen 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, Comen 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/comen-hwome.html, id L02266.
Form and metre
Comen Hwome is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCDDC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 12% 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 AABBCDDC flightA · heightA · belowB · bowB · zwellC · gleaedesD · sheaedesD · dellC
- 2 AABBCDDC boughA · browA · bearB · wearB · zideC · edgeD · zedgeD · glideC
- 3 AABBCDDC bendA · endA · cowsB · boughsB · roadC · viewD · blueD · abodeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As clouds did ride wi' heaesty flight. | 8 | ········ |
| An' woods did swaey upon the height, | 8 | ········ |
| An' bleaedes o' grass did sheaeke, below | 8 | ········ |
| The hedge-row bremble's swingen bow, | 7 | ······· |
| I come back hwome where winds did zwell, | 8 | ········ |
| In whirls along the woody gleaedes, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| On primrwose beds, in windy sheaedes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To Burnley's dark-tree'd dell. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There hills do screen the timber's bough, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The trees do screen the leaeze's brow, | 8 | ········ |
| The timber-sheaeded leaeze do bear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A beaeten path that we do wear. | 8 | ········ |
| The path do stripe the leaeze's zide, | 8 | ········ |
| To willows at the river's edge. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Where hufflen winds did sheaeke the zedge | 8 | ········ |
| An' sparklen weaeves did glide. | 6 | ······ |
| An' where the river, bend by bend, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Do draein our meaed, an' mark its end, | 8 | ··/····· |
| The hangen leaeze do teaeke our cows, | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| An' trees do sheaede em wi' their boughs, | 8 | ········ |
| An' I the quicker beaet the road, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To zee a-comen into view, | 8 | ········ |
| Still greener vrom the sky-line's blue, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wold Burnley our abode. | 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.