False Friends-Like
When I wer still a bwoy, an' mother's pride,A bigger bwoy spoke up to me so kind-like,"If you do like, I'll treat ye wi' a rideIn theaese wheel-barrow here." Zoo I wer blind-likeTo what he had a-worken in his mind-like,An' mounted vor a passenger inside;An' comen to a puddle, perty wide,He tipp'd me in, a-grinnen back behind-like.Zoo when a man do come to me so thick-like,An' sheaeke my hand, where woonce he pass'd me by,An' tell me he would do me this or that,I can't help thinken o' the big bwoy's trick-like.An' then, vor all I can but wag my hatAn' thank en, I do veel a little shy.
Words in this poem
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
False Friends-Like 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, False Friends-Like, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/false-friends-like.html, id L02225.
Form and metre
False Friends-Like is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBAABBCDBDC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABBAABBCDBDC prideA · likeB · rideA · likeB · likeB · insideA · wideA · likeB · likeB · byC · thatD · likeB · hatD · shyC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I wer still a bwoy, an' mother's pride, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A bigger bwoy spoke up to me so kind-like, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| "If you do like, I'll treat ye wi' a ride | 10 | ·········· |
| In theaese wheel-barrow here." Zoo I wer blind-like | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| To what he had a-worken in his mind-like, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' mounted vor a passenger inside; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/· |
| An' comen to a puddle, perty wide, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He tipp'd me in, a-grinnen back behind-like. | 11 | ··········· |
| Zoo when a man do come to me so thick-like, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' sheaeke my hand, where woonce he pass'd me by, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' tell me he would do me this or that, | 10 | ·········· |
| I can't help thinken o' the big bwoy's trick-like. | 11 | ··········· |
| An' then, vor all I can but wag my hat | 10 | ·········· |
| An' thank en, I do veel a little shy. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.