Fall
Now the yollow zun, a-runnenDaily round a smaller bow,Still wi' cloudless sky's a-zunnenAll the sheenen land below.Vewer blossoms now do blow,But the fruit's a-showenReds an' blues, an' purple hues,By the leaves a-glowen.
Now the childern be a-pryenRoun' the berried bremble-bow,Zome a-laughen, woone a-cryenVor the slent her frock do show.Bwoys be out a-pullen lowSlooe-boughs, or a-runnenWhere, on zides of hazzle-wrides,Nuts do hang a-zunnen.
Where do reach roun' wheat-ricks yollowOves o' thatch, in long-drawn ring,There, by stubbly hump an' hollow,Russet-dappled dogs do spring.Soon my apple-trees wull flingBloomen balls below em,That shall hide, on ev'ry zideGround where we do drow em.
Words in this poem
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- berried a.
- Furnished with berries; consisting of a berry; baccate; as, a berried shrub.
- stubbly a.
- Covered with stubble; stubbled.
- 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
Fall 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, Fall, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/fall.html, id L02322.
Form and metre
Fall is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABBC-C runnenA · bowB · zunnenA · belowB · blowB · showenC · hues · glowenC
- 2 ABABBC-C pryenA · bowB · cryenA · showB · lowB · runnenC · wrides · zunnenC
- 3 ABABBC-C yollowA · ringB · hollowA · springB · flingB · emC · zide · emC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now the yollow zun, a-runnen | 8 | ········ |
| Daily round a smaller bow, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Still wi' cloudless sky's a-zunnen | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| All the sheenen land below. | 7 | ······· |
| Vewer blossoms now do blow, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But the fruit's a-showen | 6 | ······ |
| Reds an' blues, an' purple hues, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By the leaves a-glowen. | 6 | ······ |
| Now the childern be a-pryen | 7 | ······· |
| Roun' the berried bremble-bow, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Zome a-laughen, woone a-cryen | 7 | ······· |
| Vor the slent her frock do show. | 7 | ······· |
| Bwoys be out a-pullen low | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Slooe-boughs, or a-runnen | 6 | ······ |
| Where, on zides of hazzle-wrides, | 7 | ······· |
| Nuts do hang a-zunnen. | 6 | ······ |
| Where do reach roun' wheat-ricks yollow | 8 | ········ |
| Oves o' thatch, in long-drawn ring, | 7 | ······· |
| There, by stubbly hump an' hollow, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Russet-dappled dogs do spring. | 7 | /˘·˘··· |
| Soon my apple-trees wull fling | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Bloomen balls below em, | 6 | ······ |
| That shall hide, on ev'ry zide | 7 | ······· |
| Ground where we do drow em. | 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.