In the Stillness o' the Night
Ov all the housen o' the pleaece,There's woone where I do like to callBy day or night the best ov all,To zee my Fanny's smilen feaece;An' there the steaetely trees do grow,A-rocken as the win' do blow,While she do sweetly sleep below,In the stillness o' the night.
An' there, at evenen, I do gooA-hoppen over geaetes an' bars,By twinklen light o' winter stars,When snow do clumper to my shoe;An' zometimes we do slyly catchA chat an hour upon the stratch,An' peaert wi' whispers at the hatchIn the stillness o' the night.
An' zometimes she do goo to zomeYoung naighbours' housen down the pleaece,An' I do get a clue to treaeceHer out, an' goo to zee her hwome;An' I do wish a vield a mile,As she do sweetly chat an' smileAlong the drove, or at the stile,In the stillness o' the night.
Words in this poem
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- clumper v. t.
- To form into clumps or masses. [Cf. G. klümpern to clod. See Clump, n.]
- clue n.
- A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. [OE. clewe, clowe, clue, AS. cleowen, cliwen, clywe ball of thread; akin to D. kluwen, OHG. chliwa, chliuwa, G. dim. kleuel, knäuel, and perch. to L. gluma hull,]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- 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
In the Stillness o' the 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, In the Stillness o' the 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/in-the-stillness-o-the-night.html, id L02103.
Form and metre
In the Stillness o' the Night is 24 lines in 3 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%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 29% 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 ABBACCC- pleaeceA · callB · allB · feaeceA · growC · blowC · belowC · night
- 2 ABBACCC- gooA · barsB · starsB · shoeA · catchC · stratchC · hatchC · night
- 3 ABBACCC- zomeA · pleaeceB · treaeceB · hwomeA · mileC · smileC · stileC · night
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ov all the housen o' the pleaece, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| There's woone where I do like to call | 8 | ········ |
| By day or night the best ov all, | 8 | ········ |
| To zee my Fanny's smilen feaece; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' there the steaetely trees do grow, | 9 | ········· |
| A-rocken as the win' do blow, | 8 | ········ |
| While she do sweetly sleep below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the stillness o' the night. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' there, at evenen, I do goo | 9 | ········· |
| A-hoppen over geaetes an' bars, | 8 | ········ |
| By twinklen light o' winter stars, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When snow do clumper to my shoe; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' zometimes we do slyly catch | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A chat an hour upon the stratch, | 8 | ···/···· |
| An' peaert wi' whispers at the hatch | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the stillness o' the night. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' zometimes she do goo to zome | 9 | ········· |
| Young naighbours' housen down the pleaece, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' I do get a clue to treaece | 8 | ········ |
| Her out, an' goo to zee her hwome; | 8 | ········ |
| An' I do wish a vield a mile, | 8 | ········ |
| As she do sweetly chat an' smile | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along the drove, or at the stile, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| In the stillness o' the night. | 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.