Keepen Up o' Chris'Mas
An' zoo you didden come athirt,To have zome fun last night: how wer't?Vor we'd a-work'd wi' all our mightTo scour the iron things up bright,An' brush'd an' scrubb'd the house all drough;An' brought in vor a brand, a plockO' wood so big's an uppen-stock,An' hung a bough o' misseltoo,An' ax'd a merry friend or two,To keepen up o' Chris'mas.
An' there wer wold an' young; an' Bill,Soon after dark, stalk'd up vrom mill.An' when he wer a-comen near,He whissled loud vor me to hear;Then roun' my head my frock I roll'd,An' stood in orcha'd like a post,To meaeke en think I wer a ghost.But he wer up to't, an' did scwoldTo vind me stannen in the cwold,A keepen up o' Chris'mas.
We play'd at forfeits, an' we spunThe trencher roun', an' meaede such fun!An' had a geaeme o' dree-ceaerd loo,An' then begun to hunt the shoe.An' all the wold vo'k zitten near,A-chatten roun' the vier pleaece,Did smile in woone another's feaece.An' sheaeke right hands wi' hearty cheer,An' let their left hands spill their beer,A keepen up o' Chris'mas.
Words in this poem
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- trencher n.
- One who trenches; esp., one who cuts or digs ditches. [OE. trencheoir, F. tranchoir, fr. trancher to cut, carve. See Trench, v. t.]
- dree v. i.
- To be able to do or endure.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Keepen Up o' Chris'Mas 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, Keepen Up o' Chris'Mas, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/keepen-up-o-chris-mas.html, id L02107.
Form and metre
Keepen Up o' Chris'Mas is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. 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 7.9 syllables. 13% 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 AABB-CCDD- athirtA · wer'tA · mightB · brightB · drough · plockC · stockC · misseltooD · twoD · chris'mas
- 2 AABBCDDCC- billA · millA · nearB · hearB · roll'dC · postD · ghostD · scwoldC · cwoldC · chris'mas
- 3 AABBCDDCC- spunA · funA · looB · shoeB · nearC · pleaeceD · feaeceD · cheerC · beerC · chris'mas
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 |
|---|---|---|
| An' zoo you didden come athirt, | 8 | ········ |
| To have zome fun last night: how wer't? | 8 | ········ |
| Vor we'd a-work'd wi' all our might | 8 | ······/· |
| To scour the iron things up bright, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| An' brush'd an' scrubb'd the house all drough; | 8 | ········ |
| An' brought in vor a brand, a plock | 8 | ········ |
| O' wood so big's an uppen-stock, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hung a bough o' misseltoo, | 8 | ········ |
| An' ax'd a merry friend or two, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To keepen up o' Chris'mas. | 7 | ······· |
| An' there wer wold an' young; an' Bill, | 8 | ········ |
| Soon after dark, stalk'd up vrom mill. | 8 | ········ |
| An' when he wer a-comen near, | 8 | ········ |
| He whissled loud vor me to hear; | 8 | ··˘····· |
| Then roun' my head my frock I roll'd, | 8 | ········ |
| An' stood in orcha'd like a post, | 8 | ········ |
| To meaeke en think I wer a ghost. | 8 | ········ |
| But he wer up to't, an' did scwold | 8 | ········ |
| To vind me stannen in the cwold, | 8 | ········ |
| A keepen up o' Chris'mas. | 7 | ······· |
| We play'd at forfeits, an' we spun | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The trencher roun', an' meaede such fun! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' had a geaeme o' dree-ceaerd loo, | 8 | ········ |
| An' then begun to hunt the shoe. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| An' all the wold vo'k zitten near, | 8 | ········ |
| A-chatten roun' the vier pleaece, | 7 | ······· |
| Did smile in woone another's feaece. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| An' sheaeke right hands wi' hearty cheer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' let their left hands spill their beer, | 8 | ········ |
| A keepen up o' Chris'mas. | 7 | ······· |
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