Fannys Be'Th-Day
How merry, wi' the cider cup,We kept poor Fanny's be'th-day up!An' how our busy tongues did runAn' hands did wag, a-meaeken fun!What playsome anticks zome [=o]'s done!An' how, a-reelen roun' an' roun',We beaet the merry tuen down,While music wer a-sounden!
The maidens' eyes o' black an' blueDid glisten lik' the mornen dew;An' while the cider-mug did standA-hissen by the bleaezen brand,An' uncle's pipe wer in his hand,How little he or we did thinkHow peaele the zetten stars did blinkWhile music wer a-sounden.
An' Fanny's last young teen begun,Poor maid, wi' thik day's risen zun,An' we all wish'd her many mworeLong years wi' happiness in store;An' as she went an' stood avoreThe vier, by her father's zide,Her mother dropp'd a tear o' prideWhile music wer a-sounden.
An' then we did all kinds o' tricksWi' han'kerchiefs, an' strings, an' sticks:An' woone did try to overmatchAnother wi' zome cunnen catch,While tothers slyly tried to hatchZome geaeme; but yet, by chap an' maid.The dancen wer the mwost injay'd,While music wer a-sounden.
The briskest chap ov all the lotWer Tom, that danc'd hizzelf so hot,He doff'd his cwoat an' jump'd about,Wi' girt new shirt-sleeves all a-strout,Among the maidens screamen out,A-thinken, wi' his strides an' stamps,He'd squot their veet wi' his girt clamps,While music wer a-sounden.
Then up jump'd uncle vrom his chair,An' pull'd out aunt to meaeke a peaeir;An' off he zet upon his tooe,So light's the best that beaet a shoe,Wi' aunt a-crien "Let me goo:"While all ov us did laugh so loud,We drown'd the tuen o' the croud,While music wer a-sounden.
A-comen out o' passage, Nan,Wi' pipes an' cider in her han',An' watchen uncle up so sprack,Vorgot her veet, an' vell down smackAthirt the house-dog's shaggy back,That wer in passage vor a snooze,Beyond the reach o' dancers' shoes,While music wer a-sounden.
Words in this poem
- playsome a.
- Playful; wanton; sportive. R. Browning.
- blink v. i.
- To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye. [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. bl]
- teen n.
- Grief; sorrow; affiction; pain. Chaucer. [OE. tene, AS. teóna reproach, wrong, fr. teón to accuse; akin to G. zeihen, Goth. gateihan to tell, announce, L. dicere to say. See Token.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- overmatch v. t.
- To be more than equal to or a match for; hence, to vanquish.
- 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.]
- sprack a.
- Quick; lively' alert. [Cf. Icel. spækr sprightly, dial. Sw. spräk, spräg, spirited, mettlesome; or Gael. spraic vigor.]
- vell n.
- The salted stomach of a calf, used in making cheese; a rennet bag. [Cf. L. vellus the skin of a sheep with the wool on it, a fleece, a hide or pelt, or E. fell a hide.]
- snooze n.
- A short sleep; a nap. [Scot. snooze to sleep; cf. Dan. & Sw. snus snuff.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fannys Be'Th-Day 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, Fannys Be'Th-Day, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/fannys-be-th-day.html, id L02097.
Form and metre
Fannys Be'Th-Day is 56 lines in 7 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 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 23% 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 AABBB--- cupA · upA · runB · funB · doneB · roun · down · sounden
- 2 AABBBCC- blueA · dewA · standB · brandB · handB · thinkC · blinkC · sounden
- 3 --AAABB- begun · zun · mworeA · storeA · avoreA · zideB · prideB · sounden
- 4 AABBBCC- tricksA · sticksA · overmatchB · catchB · hatchB · maidC · injay'dC · sounden
- 5 AABBBCC- lotA · hotA · aboutB · stroutB · outB · stampsC · clampsC · sounden
- 6 ---AABB- chair · peaeir · tooe · shoeA · gooA · loudB · croudB · sounden
- 7 AABBBCC- nanA · hanA · sprackB · smackB · backB · snoozeC · shoesC · sounden
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How merry, wi' the cider cup, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We kept poor Fanny's be'th-day up! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' how our busy tongues did run | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| An' hands did wag, a-meaeken fun! | 8 | ········ |
| What playsome anticks zome [=o]'s done! | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| An' how, a-reelen roun' an' roun', | 8 | ········ |
| We beaet the merry tuen down, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| While music wer a-sounden! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The maidens' eyes o' black an' blue | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Did glisten lik' the mornen dew; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' while the cider-mug did stand | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A-hissen by the bleaezen brand, | 8 | ········ |
| An' uncle's pipe wer in his hand, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How little he or we did think | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How peaele the zetten stars did blink | 9 | ········· |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| An' Fanny's last young teen begun, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Poor maid, wi' thik day's risen zun, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' we all wish'd her many mwore | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Long years wi' happiness in store; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| An' as she went an' stood avore | 8 | ········ |
| The vier, by her father's zide, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Her mother dropp'd a tear o' pride | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| An' then we did all kinds o' tricks | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' han'kerchiefs, an' strings, an' sticks: | 8 | ········ |
| An' woone did try to overmatch | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Another wi' zome cunnen catch, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| While tothers slyly tried to hatch | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Zome geaeme; but yet, by chap an' maid. | 8 | ········ |
| The dancen wer the mwost injay'd, | 8 | ········ |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The briskest chap ov all the lot | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wer Tom, that danc'd hizzelf so hot, | 8 | ········ |
| He doff'd his cwoat an' jump'd about, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' girt new shirt-sleeves all a-strout, | 8 | ········ |
| Among the maidens screamen out, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A-thinken, wi' his strides an' stamps, | 8 | ········ |
| He'd squot their veet wi' his girt clamps, | 8 | ········ |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Then up jump'd uncle vrom his chair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' pull'd out aunt to meaeke a peaeir; | 8 | ········ |
| An' off he zet upon his tooe, | 8 | ········ |
| So light's the best that beaet a shoe, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' aunt a-crien "Let me goo:" | 7 | ······· |
| While all ov us did laugh so loud, | 8 | ········ |
| We drown'd the tuen o' the croud, | 7 | ······· |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| A-comen out o' passage, Nan, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi' pipes an' cider in her han', | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' watchen uncle up so sprack, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vorgot her veet, an' vell down smack | 8 | ········ |
| Athirt the house-dog's shaggy back, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That wer in passage vor a snooze, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beyond the reach o' dancers' shoes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While music wer a-sounden. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.