Easter Zunday
Last Easter Jim put on his blueFrock cwoat, the vu'st time--vier new;Wi' yollow buttons all o' brass,That glitter'd in the zun lik' glass;An' pok'd 'ithin the button-holeA tutty he'd a-begg'd or stole.A span-new wes'co't, too, he wore,Wi' yollow stripes all down avore;An' tied his breeches' lags belowThe knee, wi' ribbon in a bow;An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide,An' put his laggens on, an' tiedHis shoes wi' strings two vingers wide,Because 'twer Easter Zunday.
An' after mornen church wer outHe come back hwome, an' stroll'd aboutAll down the vields, an' drough the leaene,Wi' sister Kit an' cousin Jeaene,A-turnen proudly to their viewHis yollow breast an' back o' blue.The lambs did play, the grounds wer green,The trees did bud, the zun did sheen;The lark did zing below the sky,An' roads wer all a-blown so dry,As if the zummer wer begun;An' he had sich a bit o' fun!He meaede the maidens squeael an' run,Because 'twer Easter Zunday.
Words in this poem
- tutty n.
- A yellow or brown amorphous substance obtained as a sublimation product in the flues of smelting furnaces of zinc, and consisting of a crude zinc oxide. [F. tutie; cf. Sp. tutia, atutia, LL. tutia; all from Per. tutiya.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Easter Zunday 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, Easter Zunday, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/easter-zunday.html, id L02038.
Form and metre
Easter Zunday is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 25% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFF- blueA · newA · brassB · glassB · holeC · stoleC · woreD · avoreD · belowE · bowE · azideF · tiedF · wideF · zunday
- 2 AABBCCBBDDEEE- outA · aboutA · leaeneB · jeaeneB · viewC · blueC · greenB · sheenB · skyD · dryD · begunE · funE · runE · zunday
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Last Easter Jim put on his blue | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Frock cwoat, the vu'st time--vier new; | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' yollow buttons all o' brass, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That glitter'd in the zun lik' glass; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' pok'd 'ithin the button-hole | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A tutty he'd a-begg'd or stole. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A span-new wes'co't, too, he wore, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' yollow stripes all down avore; | 8 | ········ |
| An' tied his breeches' lags below | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The knee, wi' ribbon in a bow; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' put his laggens on, an' tied | 8 | ········ |
| His shoes wi' strings two vingers wide, | 8 | ········ |
| Because 'twer Easter Zunday. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| An' after mornen church wer out | 8 | ········ |
| He come back hwome, an' stroll'd about | 8 | ········ |
| All down the vields, an' drough the leaene, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' sister Kit an' cousin Jeaene, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A-turnen proudly to their view | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His yollow breast an' back o' blue. | 8 | ········ |
| The lambs did play, the grounds wer green, | 8 | ········ |
| The trees did bud, the zun did sheen; | 8 | ········ |
| The lark did zing below the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| An' roads wer all a-blown so dry, | 8 | ········ |
| As if the zummer wer begun; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| An' he had sich a bit o' fun! | 10 | ·········· |
| He meaede the maidens squeael an' run, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Because 'twer Easter Zunday. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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