Fifehead
'Twer where my fondest thoughts do light,At Fifehead, while we spent the night;The millwheel's resten rim wer dry,An' houn's held up their evenen cry;An' lofty, drough the midnight sky,Above the vo'k, wi' heavy heads,Asleep upon their darksome beds,The stars wer all awake, John.
Noo birds o' day wer out to spreadTheir wings above the gully's bed,An' darkness roun' the elem-tree'D a-still'd the charmy childern's glee.All he'ths wer cwold but woone, where weWer gay, 'tis true, but gay an' wise,An' laugh'd in light o' maiden's eyes,That glissen'd wide awake, John.
An' when we all, lik' loosen'd hounds,Broke out o' doors, wi' merry sounds,Our friends among the playsome team,All brought us gwaein so vur's the stream.But Jeaene, that there, below a gleamO' light, watch'd woone o's out o' zight;Vor willenly, vor his "Good night,"She'd longer bide awake, John.
An' while up Leighs we stepp'd alongOur grassy path, wi' joke an' zong,There Plumber, wi' its woody ground,O' slopen knaps a-screen'd around,Rose dim 'ithout a breath o' sound,The wold abode o' squiers a-gone,Though while they lay a-sleepen on,Their stars wer still awake, John.
Words in this poem
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- playsome a.
- Playful; wanton; sportive. R. Browning.
- 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.]
- plumber n.
- One who works in lead; esp., one who furnishes, fits, and repairs lead, iron, or glass pipes, and other apparatus for the conveyance of water, gas, or drainage in buildings. [F. plombier. See Plumb.]
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fifehead 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, Fifehead, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/fifehead.html, id L02223.
Form and metre
Fifehead is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 16% 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 AABBBCC- lightA · nightA · dryB · cryB · skyB · headsC · bedsC · john
- 2 AABBBCC- spreadA · bedA · treeB · gleeB · weB · wiseC · eyesC · john
- 3 AABBBCC- houndsA · soundsA · teamB · streamB · gleamB · zightC · nightC · john
- 4 AABBBCCC alongA · zongA · groundB · aroundB · soundB · goneC · onC · johnC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twer where my fondest thoughts do light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At Fifehead, while we spent the night; | 9 | ········· |
| The millwheel's resten rim wer dry, | 8 | ········ |
| An' houn's held up their evenen cry; | 9 | ········· |
| An' lofty, drough the midnight sky, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Above the vo'k, wi' heavy heads, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Asleep upon their darksome beds, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The stars wer all awake, John. | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Noo birds o' day wer out to spread | 8 | ········ |
| Their wings above the gully's bed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' darkness roun' the elem-tree | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'D a-still'd the charmy childern's glee. | 9 | ········· |
| All he'ths wer cwold but woone, where we | 8 | ········ |
| Wer gay, 'tis true, but gay an' wise, | 8 | ········ |
| An' laugh'd in light o' maiden's eyes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That glissen'd wide awake, John. | 7 | ····˘/· |
| An' when we all, lik' loosen'd hounds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Broke out o' doors, wi' merry sounds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our friends among the playsome team, | 8 | /····/˘· |
| All brought us gwaein so vur's the stream. | 8 | ········ |
| But Jeaene, that there, below a gleam | 8 | ········ |
| O' light, watch'd woone o's out o' zight; | 8 | ········ |
| Vor willenly, vor his "Good night," | 8 | ········ |
| She'd longer bide awake, John. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| An' while up Leighs we stepp'd along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Our grassy path, wi' joke an' zong, | 8 | //˘····· |
| There Plumber, wi' its woody ground, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O' slopen knaps a-screen'd around, | 8 | ········ |
| Rose dim 'ithout a breath o' sound, | 8 | ········ |
| The wold abode o' squiers a-gone, | 8 | ··˘/·/·· |
| Though while they lay a-sleepen on, | 8 | ········ |
| Their stars wer still awake, John. | 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.