John
Well now, I do hope we shall vind yeCome soon, wi' your childern behind ye,To Stowe, while o' bwoth zides o' hedges,The zunsheen do glow in the zummer.
Well, aye, when the mowen is over,An' ee-grass do whiten wi' clover.A man's a-tired out, vor much walken,The while he do mow in the zummer.
I'll goo, an' we'll zet up a wicket,An' have a good innens at cricket;An' teaeke a good plounce in the water.Where clote-leaves do grow in the zummer.
I'll goo, an' we'll play "Thread the needle"Or "Hunten the slipper," or wheedleYoung Jemmy to fiddle, an' reelySo brisk to an' fro in the zummer.
An' Jeaene. Mind you don't come 'ithout her,My wife is a-thinken about her;At our house she'll find she's as welcome'S the rwose that do blow in the zummer.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- clote n.
- The common burdock; the clotbur. Wyclif. [AS. cl: cf. G. klette.]
- jemmy n.
- A short crowbar. See Jimmy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
John 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, John, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/john-3.html, id L18521.
Form and metre
John is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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-- yeA · yeA · hedges · zummer
- 2 AA-- overA · cloverA · walken · zummer
- 3 AA-- wicketA · cricketA · water · zummer
- 4 AA-- needleA · wheedleA · reely · zummer
- 5 AA-- herA · herA · welcome · zummer
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well now, I do hope we shall vind ye | 9 | ········· |
| Come soon, wi' your childern behind ye, | 9 | ········· |
| To Stowe, while o' bwoth zides o' hedges, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The zunsheen do glow in the zummer. | 9 | ········· |
| Well, aye, when the mowen is over, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| An' ee-grass do whiten wi' clover. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| A man's a-tired out, vor much walken, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| The while he do mow in the zummer. | 9 | ········· |
| I'll goo, an' we'll zet up a wicket, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| An' have a good innens at cricket; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| An' teaeke a good plounce in the water. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Where clote-leaves do grow in the zummer. | 9 | ········· |
| I'll goo, an' we'll play "Thread the needle" | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Or "Hunten the slipper," or wheedle | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Young Jemmy to fiddle, an' reely | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| So brisk to an' fro in the zummer. | 9 | ········· |
| An' Jeaene. Mind you don't come 'ithout her, | 9 | ········· |
| My wife is a-thinken about her; | 9 | ········· |
| At our house she'll find she's as welcome | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| 'S the rwose that do blow in the zummer. | 10 | ·········· |
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.