JEAeNE
We now mid hope vor better cheer,My smilen wife o' twice vive year.Let others frown, if thou bist nearWi' hope upon thy brow, Jeaene;Vor I vu'st lov'd thee when thy lightYoung sheaepe vu'st grew to woman's height;I loved thee near, an' out o' zight,An' I do love thee now, Jeaene.
An' we've a-trod the sheenen bleaedeOv eegrass in the zummer sheaede,An' when the leaeves begun to feaedeWi' zummer in the weaene, Jeaene;An' we've a-wander'd drough the groun'O' swayen wheat a-turnen brown,An' we've a-stroll'd together roun'The brook an' drough the leaene, Jeane.
An' nwone but I can ever tellOv all thy tears that have a-vellWhen trials meaede thy bosom zwell,An' nwone but thou o' mine, Jeaene;An' now my heart, that heav'd wi' prideBack then to have thee at my zide,Do love thee mwore as years do slide,An' leaeve them times behine, Jeaene.
Words in this poem
- vive a.
- Lively; animated; forcible. [L. vivus: cf. F. vif. See Vivid.]
- vell n.
- The salted stomach of a calf, used in making cheese; a rennet bag. [Cf. L. vellus the skin of a sheep with the wool on it, a fleece, a hide or pelt, or E. fell a hide.]
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.html, id L02145.
Form and metre
JEAeNE is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABCCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 29% 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 AAABCCCB cheerA · yearA · nearA · jeaeneB · lightC · heightC · zightC · jeaeneB
- 2 AAABC-CB bleaedeA · sheaedeA · feaedeA · jeaeneB · grounC · brown · rounC · jeaneB
- 3 AAABCCCB tellA · vellA · zwellA · jeaeneB · prideC · zideC · slideC · jeaeneB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We now mid hope vor better cheer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My smilen wife o' twice vive year. | 8 | ········ |
| Let others frown, if thou bist near | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wi' hope upon thy brow, Jeaene; | 7 | ······· |
| Vor I vu'st lov'd thee when thy light | 8 | ········ |
| Young sheaepe vu'st grew to woman's height; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I loved thee near, an' out o' zight, | 8 | ········ |
| An' I do love thee now, Jeaene. | 7 | ······· |
| An' we've a-trod the sheenen bleaede | 8 | ········ |
| Ov eegrass in the zummer sheaede, | 8 | ········ |
| An' when the leaeves begun to feaede | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Wi' zummer in the weaene, Jeaene; | 7 | ······· |
| An' we've a-wander'd drough the groun' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O' swayen wheat a-turnen brown, | 8 | ········ |
| An' we've a-stroll'd together roun' | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The brook an' drough the leaene, Jeane. | 7 | ······· |
| An' nwone but I can ever tell | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ov all thy tears that have a-vell | 8 | ········ |
| When trials meaede thy bosom zwell, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' nwone but thou o' mine, Jeaene; | 7 | ······· |
| An' now my heart, that heav'd wi' pride | 8 | ········ |
| Back then to have thee at my zide, | 8 | ········ |
| Do love thee mwore as years do slide, | 8 | ········ |
| An' leaeve them times behine, Jeaene. | 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.