JEAeNE
I'm thankvul I be out o' thatThick crowd, an' not asquot quite flat.That ever we should plunge in where the vo'k do drungeSo tight's the cheese-wring on the veaet!I've sca'ce a thing a-left in pleaece.'Tis all a-tore vrom pin an' leaece.My bonnet's like a wad, a-beaet up to a dod,An' all my heaeir's about my feaece.
What d'ye meaen,When I've a-brought ye such a bunchO' theaese nice ginger-nuts to crunch?An' here, John, here! you teaeke a vew.
Well, Jeaene, an' when d'ye meaen to comeAn' call on me, then, up at hwome.You han't a-come athirt, since I'd my voot a-hurt,A-slippen vrom the tree I clomb.
I buy your ceaepe! No; Joe wull screaepeUp dibs enough to buy your ceaepe.As things do look, to meaeke you fineIs long Joe's business mwore than mine.
Words in this poem
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- crunch v. i.
- To chew with force and noise; to craunch. [Prob. of imitative origin; or cf. D. schransen to eat heartily, or E. scrunch.]
- dibs n.
- A sweet preparation or treacle of grape juice, much used in the East. Johnston.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
JEAeNE 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, JEAeNE, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/jeaene-2.html, id L18520.
Form and metre
JEAeNE is 20 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. 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 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 30% 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--BB-B thatA · flatA · drunge · veaet · pleaeceB · leaeceB · dod · feaeceB
- 2 -AA- meaen · bunchA · crunchA · vew
- 4 AABB screaepeA · ceaepeA · fineB · mineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I'm thankvul I be out o' that | 8 | ········ |
| Thick crowd, an' not asquot quite flat. | 8 | ········ |
| That ever we should plunge in where the vo'k do drunge | 11 | ·/········· |
| So tight's the cheese-wring on the veaet! | 8 | ········ |
| I've sca'ce a thing a-left in pleaece. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis all a-tore vrom pin an' leaece. | 8 | ········ |
| My bonnet's like a wad, a-beaet up to a dod, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| An' all my heaeir's about my feaece. | 8 | ········ |
| What d'ye meaen, | 3 | ··· |
| When I've a-brought ye such a bunch | 8 | ········ |
| O' theaese nice ginger-nuts to crunch? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' here, John, here! you teaeke a vew. | 8 | ········ |
| Well, Jeaene, an' when d'ye meaen to come | 8 | ········ |
| An' call on me, then, up at hwome. | 8 | ········ |
| You han't a-come athirt, since I'd my voot a-hurt, | 12 | ············ |
| A-slippen vrom the tree I clomb. | 8 | ········ |
| I buy your ceaepe! No; Joe wull screaepe | 9 | ········· |
| Up dibs enough to buy your ceaepe. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| As things do look, to meaeke you fine | 8 | ········ |
| Is long Joe's business mwore than mine. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.