Hope A-Left Behind
Don't try to win a maiden's heart,To leaeve her in her love,--'tis wrong:'Tis bitter to her soul to peaertWi' woone that is her sweetheart long.A maid's vu'st love is always strong;An' if do fail, she'll linger on,Wi' all her best o' pleasure gone,An' hope a-left behind her.
Thy poor lost Jenny wer a-grow'dSo kind an' thoughtvul vor her years,When she did meet wi' vo'k a-know'dThe best, her love did speak in tears.She walk'd wi' thee, an' had noo fearsO' thy unkindness, till she zeedHerzelf a-cast off lik' a weed,An' hope a-left behind her.
Thy slight turn'd peaele her cherry lip;Her sorrow, not a-zeed by eyes,Wer lik' the mildew, that do nipA bud by darksome midnight skies.The day mid come, the zun mid rise,But there's noo hope o' day nor zun;The storm ha' blow'd, the harm's a-done,An' hope's a-left behind her.
The time will come when thou wouldst gi'eThe worold vor to have her smile,Or meet her by the parrock tree,Or catch her jumpen off the stile;Thy life's avore thee vor a while,But thou wilt turn thy mind in time,An' zee the deed as 'tis,--a crime,An' hope a-left behind thee.
Zoo never win a maiden's heart,But her's that is to be thy bride,An' play drough life a manly peaert,An' if she's true when time ha' triedHer mind, then teaeke her by thy zide.True love will meaeke thy hardships light,True love will meaeke the worold bright,When hope's a-left behind thee.
Words in this poem
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- mildew n.
- A growth of minute powdery or webby fungi, whitish or of different colors, found on various diseased or decaying substances. [AS. meledeáw; akin to OHG. militou, G. mehlthau, mehltau; prob. orig. meaning, honeydew; cf. Goth. milip honey. See Mellifluous, and Dew.]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- parrock n.
- A croft, or small field; a paddock. [AS. pearruc, pearroc. See Park.]
- stile n.
- A pin set on the face of a dial, to cast a shadow; a style. See Style. Moxon. [See Style.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hope A-Left Behind 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, Hope A-Left Behind, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/hope-a-left-behind.html, id L02134.
Form and metre
Hope A-Left Behind is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABBCC- heartA · wrongB · peaertA · longB · strongB · onC · goneC · her
- 2 ABABBCC- grow'dA · yearsB · know'dA · tearsB · fearsB · zeedC · weedC · her
- 3 ABABB--- lipA · eyesB · nipA · skiesB · riseB · zun · done · her
- 4 -ABAACCB gi'e · smileA · treeB · stileA · whileA · timeC · crimeC · theeB
- 5 ABABBCC- heartA · brideB · peaertA · triedB · zideB · lightC · brightC · thee
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Don't try to win a maiden's heart, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To leaeve her in her love,--'tis wrong: | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis bitter to her soul to peaert | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wi' woone that is her sweetheart long. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| A maid's vu'st love is always strong; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| An' if do fail, she'll linger on, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi' all her best o' pleasure gone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' hope a-left behind her. | 7 | ······· |
| Thy poor lost Jenny wer a-grow'd | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So kind an' thoughtvul vor her years, | 8 | ········ |
| When she did meet wi' vo'k a-know'd | 8 | ········ |
| The best, her love did speak in tears. | 8 | ········ |
| She walk'd wi' thee, an' had noo fears | 8 | ········ |
| O' thy unkindness, till she zeed | 8 | ········ |
| Herzelf a-cast off lik' a weed, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hope a-left behind her. | 7 | ······· |
| Thy slight turn'd peaele her cherry lip; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Her sorrow, not a-zeed by eyes, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wer lik' the mildew, that do nip | 8 | ···/···· |
| A bud by darksome midnight skies. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| The day mid come, the zun mid rise, | 8 | ········ |
| But there's noo hope o' day nor zun; | 8 | ········ |
| The storm ha' blow'd, the harm's a-done, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hope's a-left behind her. | 7 | ······· |
| The time will come when thou wouldst gi'e | 8 | ········ |
| The worold vor to have her smile, | 8 | ········ |
| Or meet her by the parrock tree, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or catch her jumpen off the stile; | 8 | ········ |
| Thy life's avore thee vor a while, | 8 | ········ |
| But thou wilt turn thy mind in time, | 8 | ········ |
| An' zee the deed as 'tis,--a crime, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hope a-left behind thee. | 7 | ······· |
| Zoo never win a maiden's heart, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But her's that is to be thy bride, | 8 | ········ |
| An' play drough life a manly peaert, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' if she's true when time ha' tried | 8 | ········ |
| Her mind, then teaeke her by thy zide. | 8 | ········ |
| True love will meaeke thy hardships light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| True love will meaeke the worold bright, | 8 | ········ |
| When hope's a-left behind thee. | 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.