Daniel Dwithen, the Wise Chap
Dan Dwithen wer the chap to showHis naighbours mwore than they did know,Vor he could zee, wi' half a thought,What zome could hardly be a-taught;An' he had never any doubtWhatever 'twer, but he did know't,An' had a-reach'd the bottom o't,Or soon could meaeke it out.
Wi' narrow feaece, an' nose so thinThat light a'most shone drough the skin,As he did talk, wi' his red peaeirO' lips, an' his vull eyes did steaere,What nippy looks friend Daniel wore,An' how he smiled as he did bringSuch reasons vor to clear a thing,As dather'd vo'k the mwore!
When woonce there come along the roadAt night, zome show-vo'k, wi' a lwoadOv half the wild outlandish thingsThat crawl'd, or went wi' veet, or wings;Their elephant, to stratch his knees,Walk'd up the road-zide turf, an' leftHis tracks a-zunk wi' all his heftAs big's a vinny cheese.
An' zoo next mornen zome vo'k voundThe girt round tracks upon the ground,An' view'd em all wi' stedvast eyes,An' wi' their vingers spann'd their size,An' took their depth below the brink:An' whether they mid be the tracksO' things wi' witches on their backs,Or what, they coulden think.
At last friend Dan come up, an' broughtHis wit to help their dizzy thought,An' looken on an' off the ea'th,He cried, a-drawen a vull breath,Why, I do know; what, can't ye zee 't?I'll bet a shillen 'twer a deerBroke out o' park, an' sprung on here,Wi' quoits upon his veet.
Words in this poem
- outlandish a.
- Foreign; not native. [AS. foreign. See Out, Land, and -ish.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- heft n.
- The act or effort of heaving [From Heave: cf. hefe weight. Cf. Haft.]
- 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.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- backs n.
- Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Daniel Dwithen, the Wise Chap 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, Daniel Dwithen, the Wise Chap, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/daniel-dwithen-the-wise-chap.html, id L02350.
Form and metre
Daniel Dwithen, the Wise Chap is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCDDC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 35% 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 AABBC-BC showA · knowA · thoughtB · taughtB · doubtC · know't · o'tB · outC
- 2 AABBCDDC thinA · skinA · peaeirB · steaereB · woreC · bringD · thingD · mworeC
- 3 AABBCDDC roadA · lwoadA · thingsB · wingsB · kneesC · leftD · heftD · cheeseC
- 4 AABBCDDC voundA · groundA · eyesB · sizeB · brinkC · tracksD · backsD · thinkC
- 5 AABB-CC- broughtA · thoughtA · ea'thB · breathB · t · deerC · hereC · veet
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Dwithen wer the chap to show | 8 | ········ |
| His naighbours mwore than they did know, | 8 | ········ |
| Vor he could zee, wi' half a thought, | 8 | ········ |
| What zome could hardly be a-taught; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' he had never any doubt | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Whatever 'twer, but he did know't, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' had a-reach'd the bottom o't, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or soon could meaeke it out. | 6 | ······ |
| Wi' narrow feaece, an' nose so thin | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That light a'most shone drough the skin, | 8 | ········ |
| As he did talk, wi' his red peaeir | 8 | ········ |
| O' lips, an' his vull eyes did steaere, | 8 | ········ |
| What nippy looks friend Daniel wore, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' how he smiled as he did bring | 8 | ········ |
| Such reasons vor to clear a thing, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As dather'd vo'k the mwore! | 6 | ······ |
| When woonce there come along the road | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| At night, zome show-vo'k, wi' a lwoad | 8 | ········ |
| Ov half the wild outlandish things | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That crawl'd, or went wi' veet, or wings; | 8 | ········ |
| Their elephant, to stratch his knees, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Walk'd up the road-zide turf, an' left | 8 | ········ |
| His tracks a-zunk wi' all his heft | 8 | ········ |
| As big's a vinny cheese. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| An' zoo next mornen zome vo'k vound | 8 | ········ |
| The girt round tracks upon the ground, | 8 | ········ |
| An' view'd em all wi' stedvast eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| An' wi' their vingers spann'd their size, | 8 | ········ |
| An' took their depth below the brink: | 8 | ········ |
| An' whether they mid be the tracks | 8 | ········ |
| O' things wi' witches on their backs, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or what, they coulden think. | 6 | ······ |
| At last friend Dan come up, an' brought | 8 | ········ |
| His wit to help their dizzy thought, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' looken on an' off the ea'th, | 8 | ········ |
| He cried, a-drawen a vull breath, | 8 | ········ |
| Why, I do know; what, can't ye zee 't? | 9 | ········· |
| I'll bet a shillen 'twer a deer | 8 | ········ |
| Broke out o' park, an' sprung on here, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' quoits upon his veet. | 6 | ······ |
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.