I Know Who
Aye, aye, vull rathe the zun mus' riseTo meaeke us tired o' zunny skies,A-sheenen on the whole day drough,From mornen's dawn till evenen's dew.When trees be brown an' meaeds be green,An' skies be blue, an' streams do sheen,An' thin-edg'd clouds be snowy whiteAbove the bluest hills in zight;But I can let the daylight goo,When I've a-met wi'--I know who.
In Spring I met her by a bedO' laurels higher than her head;The while a rwose hung white betweenHer blushes an' the laurel's green;An' then in Fall, I went alongThe row of elems in the drong,An' heaerd her zing bezide the cows,By yollow leaves o' meaeple boughs;But Fall or Spring is feaeir to viewWhen day do bring me--I know who.
An' when, wi' wint'r a-comen roun',The purple he'th's a-feaeden brown,An' hangen vern's a-sheaeken dead,Bezide the hill's besheaeded head:An' black-wing'd rooks do glitter brightAbove my head, in peaeler light;Then though the birds do still the gleeThat sounded in the zummer tree,My heart is light the winter drough,In me'th at night, wi'--I know who.
Words in this poem
- rathe a.
- Coming before others, or before the usual time; early. [AS. hræ\'eb, hræd, quick, akin to OHG. hrad, Icel. hrathr.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Know Who 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, I Know Who, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/i-know-who.html, id L02218.
Form and metre
I Know Who is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. 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 8.0 syllables. 27% 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 AA-BCCDDBB riseA · skiesA · drough · dewB · greenC · sheenC · whiteD · zightD · gooB · whoB
- 2 AABBCCDDEE bedA · headA · betweenB · greenB · alongC · drongC · cowsD · boughsD · viewE · whoE
- 3 --AABBCC-- roun · brown · deadA · headA · brightB · lightB · gleeC · treeC · drough · who
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aye, aye, vull rathe the zun mus' rise | 8 | ········ |
| To meaeke us tired o' zunny skies, | 8 | ···/···· |
| A-sheenen on the whole day drough, | 8 | ········ |
| From mornen's dawn till evenen's dew. | 9 | ········· |
| When trees be brown an' meaeds be green, | 8 | ········ |
| An' skies be blue, an' streams do sheen, | 8 | ········ |
| An' thin-edg'd clouds be snowy white | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above the bluest hills in zight; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But I can let the daylight goo, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| When I've a-met wi'--I know who. | 8 | ········ |
| In Spring I met her by a bed | 8 | ········ |
| O' laurels higher than her head; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The while a rwose hung white between | 8 | ········ |
| Her blushes an' the laurel's green; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' then in Fall, I went along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The row of elems in the drong, | 8 | ········ |
| An' heaerd her zing bezide the cows, | 8 | ········ |
| By yollow leaves o' meaeple boughs; | 8 | ········ |
| But Fall or Spring is feaeir to view | 8 | ········ |
| When day do bring me--I know who. | 8 | ········ |
| An' when, wi' wint'r a-comen roun', | 8 | ········ |
| The purple he'th's a-feaeden brown, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' hangen vern's a-sheaeken dead, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bezide the hill's besheaeded head: | 8 | ········ |
| An' black-wing'd rooks do glitter bright | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above my head, in peaeler light; | 8 | ········ |
| Then though the birds do still the glee | 8 | ········ |
| That sounded in the zummer tree, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My heart is light the winter drough, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In me'th at night, wi'--I know who. | 8 | ········ |
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