Good Night
While down the meaeds wound slow,Water vor green-wheel'd mills,Over the streams bright bow,Win' come vrom dark-back'd hills.Birds on the win' shot along down steepSlopes, wi' a swift-swung zweep.Dim weaen'd the red streak'd westLim'-weary souls "Good rest."
Up on the plough'd hill brow,Still wer the zull's wheel'd beam,Still wer the red-wheel'd plough,Free o' the strong limb'd team,Still wer the shop that the smith meaede ring,Dark where the sparks did spring;Low shot the zun's last beams.Lim'-weary souls "Good dreams."
Where I vrom dark bank-sheaedesTurn'd up the west hill road,Where all the green grass bleaedesUnder the zunlight glow'd.Startled I met, as the zunbeams play'dLight, wi' a zunsmote maid,Come vor my day's last zight,Zun-brighten'd maid "Good night."
About this text
Good Night 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, Good Night, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/good-night.html, id L02274.
Form and metre
Good Night is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDD. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCCDD slowA · millsB · bowA · hillsB · steepC · zweepC · westD · restD
- 2 ABABCCDD browA · beamB · ploughA · teamB · ringC · springC · beamsD · dreamsD
- 3 ABABCCDD sheaedesA · roadB · bleaedesA · glow'dB · play'dC · maidC · zightD · nightD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| While down the meaeds wound slow, | 6 | ······ |
| Water vor green-wheel'd mills, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Over the streams bright bow, | 6 | ······ |
| Win' come vrom dark-back'd hills. | 6 | ······ |
| Birds on the win' shot along down steep | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Slopes, wi' a swift-swung zweep. | 6 | ······ |
| Dim weaen'd the red streak'd west | 6 | ······ |
| Lim'-weary souls "Good rest." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Up on the plough'd hill brow, | 6 | ······ |
| Still wer the zull's wheel'd beam, | 6 | ······ |
| Still wer the red-wheel'd plough, | 6 | ······ |
| Free o' the strong limb'd team, | 6 | ······ |
| Still wer the shop that the smith meaede ring, | 9 | ········· |
| Dark where the sparks did spring; | 6 | ······ |
| Low shot the zun's last beams. | 6 | ······ |
| Lim'-weary souls "Good dreams." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where I vrom dark bank-sheaedes | 6 | ······ |
| Turn'd up the west hill road, | 6 | ······ |
| Where all the green grass bleaedes | 6 | ······ |
| Under the zunlight glow'd. | 6 | ······ |
| Startled I met, as the zunbeams play'd | 9 | /˘······· |
| Light, wi' a zunsmote maid, | 6 | ······ |
| Come vor my day's last zight, | 6 | ······ |
| Zun-brighten'd maid "Good night." | 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.