Day's Work A-Done
And oh! the jay our rest did yield,At evenen by the mossy wall,When we'd a-work'd all day a-vield,While zummer zuns did rise an' vall;As there a-lettenGoo all fretten,An' vorgetten all our tweils,We zot among our childern's smiles.
An' under skies that glitter'd white,The while our smoke, arisen blue,Did melt in aier, out o' zight,Above the trees that kept us lew;Wer birds a-zingen,Tongues a-ringen,Childern springen, vull o' jay,A-finishen the day in play.
An' back behind, a-stannen tall,The cliff did sheen to western light;An' while avore the water-vall,A-rottlen loud, an' foamen white.The leaves did quiver,Gnots did whiver,By the river, where the pool,In evenen air did glissen cool.
An' childern there, a-runnen wide,Did play their geaemes along the grove,Vor though to us 'twer jay to bideAt rest, to them 'twer jay to move.The while my smilenJeaene, beguilen,All my tweilen, wi' her ceaere,Did call me to my evenen feaere.
Words in this poem
- fretten a.
- Rubbed; marked; as, pock-fretten, marked with the smallpox. [The old p. p. of fret to rub.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Day's Work A-Done 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, Day's Work A-Done, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/day-s-work-a-done.html, id L02159.
Form and metre
Day's Work A-Done is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. 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 7.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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-BBCC yieldA · wall · vieldA · vall · lettenB · frettenB · tweilsC · smilesC
- 2 ABABCCDD whiteA · blueB · zightA · lewB · zingenC · ringenC · jayD · playD
- 3 -A-ABBCC tall · lightA · vall · whiteA · quiverB · whiverB · poolC · coolC
- 4 A-A-BBCC wideA · grove · bideA · move · smilenB · beguilenB · ceaereC · feaereC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And oh! the jay our rest did yield, | 8 | ····/··· |
| At evenen by the mossy wall, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| When we'd a-work'd all day a-vield, | 8 | ········ |
| While zummer zuns did rise an' vall; | 8 | ········ |
| As there a-letten | 5 | ····· |
| Goo all fretten, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| An' vorgetten all our tweils, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We zot among our childern's smiles. | 8 | ····/··· |
| An' under skies that glitter'd white, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The while our smoke, arisen blue, | 8 | ··/·˘/˘· |
| Did melt in aier, out o' zight, | 7 | ······· |
| Above the trees that kept us lew; | 8 | ········ |
| Wer birds a-zingen, | 5 | ····· |
| Tongues a-ringen, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Childern springen, vull o' jay, | 7 | ······· |
| A-finishen the day in play. | 8 | ········ |
| An' back behind, a-stannen tall, | 8 | ········ |
| The cliff did sheen to western light; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' while avore the water-vall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-rottlen loud, an' foamen white. | 8 | ········ |
| The leaves did quiver, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Gnots did whiver, | 4 | ···· |
| By the river, where the pool, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In evenen air did glissen cool. | 9 | ········· |
| An' childern there, a-runnen wide, | 8 | ········ |
| Did play their geaemes along the grove, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Vor though to us 'twer jay to bide | 8 | ········ |
| At rest, to them 'twer jay to move. | 8 | ········ |
| The while my smilen | 5 | ····· |
| Jeaene, beguilen, | 4 | ···· |
| All my tweilen, wi' her ceaere, | 7 | ······· |
| Did call me to my evenen feaere. | 11 | ··········· |
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.