Ivy Hall
If I've a-stream'd below a storm,An' not a-velt the rain,An' if I ever velt me warm,In snow upon the plain,'Twer when, as evenen skies wer dim,An' vields below my eyes wer dim,I went alwone at evenen-fall,Athirt the vields to Ivy Hall.
I voun' the wind upon the hill,Last night, a-roaren loud,An' rubben boughs a-creaken sh'illUpon the ashes' sh'oud;But oh! the reelen copse mid groan;An' timber's lofty tops mid groan;The hufflen winds be music all,Bezide my road to Ivy Hall.
A sheaedy grove o' ribbed woaks,Is Wootton's shelter'd nest,An' woaks do keep the winter's strokesVrom Knapton's evenen rest.An' woaks ageaen wi' bossy stems,An' elems wi' their mossy stems,Do rise to screen the leafy wallAn' stwonen ruf ov Ivy Hall.
The darksome clouds mid fling their sleet.An' vrost mid pinch me blue,Or snow mid cling below my veet,An' hide my road vrom view.The winter's only jay ov heart,An' storms do meaeke me gay ov heart,When I do rest, at evenen-fall,Bezide the he'th ov Ivy Hall.
There leafy stems do clim' aroundThe mossy stwonen eaves;An' there be window-zides a-boundWi' quiv'ren ivy-leaves.But though the sky is dim 'ithout,An' feaeces mid be grim 'ithout,Still I ha' smiles when I do call,At evenen-tide, at Ivy Hall.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- bossy a.
- Ornamented with bosses; studded.
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ivy Hall 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, Ivy Hall, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/ivy-hall.html, id L02224.
Form and metre
Ivy Hall is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 12% 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 ABABCCDD stormA · rainB · warmA · plainB · dimC · dimC · fallD · hallD
- 2 ABABCCDD hillA · loudB · sh'illA · sh'oudB · groanC · groanC · allD · hallD
- 3 ABABCCDD woaksA · nestB · strokesA · restB · stemsC · stemsC · wallD · hallD
- 4 ABABCCDD sleetA · blueB · veetA · viewB · heartC · heartC · fallD · hallD
- 5 ABABCCDD aroundA · eavesB · boundA · leavesB · ithoutC · ithoutC · callD · hallD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If I've a-stream'd below a storm, | 8 | ········ |
| An' not a-velt the rain, | 6 | ······ |
| An' if I ever velt me warm, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In snow upon the plain, | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twer when, as evenen skies wer dim, | 9 | ········· |
| An' vields below my eyes wer dim, | 8 | ········ |
| I went alwone at evenen-fall, | 9 | ········· |
| Athirt the vields to Ivy Hall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I voun' the wind upon the hill, | 8 | ········ |
| Last night, a-roaren loud, | 6 | ······ |
| An' rubben boughs a-creaken sh'ill | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the ashes' sh'oud; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But oh! the reelen copse mid groan; | 8 | ········ |
| An' timber's lofty tops mid groan; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The hufflen winds be music all, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bezide my road to Ivy Hall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A sheaedy grove o' ribbed woaks, | 8 | ······˘· |
| Is Wootton's shelter'd nest, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| An' woaks do keep the winter's strokes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Vrom Knapton's evenen rest. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| An' woaks ageaen wi' bossy stems, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' elems wi' their mossy stems, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do rise to screen the leafy wall | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' stwonen ruf ov Ivy Hall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The darksome clouds mid fling their sleet. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' vrost mid pinch me blue, | 6 | ······ |
| Or snow mid cling below my veet, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hide my road vrom view. | 6 | ······ |
| The winter's only jay ov heart, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| An' storms do meaeke me gay ov heart, | 8 | ········ |
| When I do rest, at evenen-fall, | 9 | ········· |
| Bezide the he'th ov Ivy Hall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There leafy stems do clim' around | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The mossy stwonen eaves; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| An' there be window-zides a-bound | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wi' quiv'ren ivy-leaves. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But though the sky is dim 'ithout, | 8 | ········ |
| An' feaeces mid be grim 'ithout, | 8 | ········ |
| Still I ha' smiles when I do call, | 8 | ········ |
| At evenen-tide, at Ivy Hall. | 9 | ······/˘· |
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.