Light or Sheaede
A Maytide's evenen wer a-dyen,Under moonsheen, into night,Wi' a streamen wind a-sighenBy the thorns a-bloomen white.Where in sheaede, a-zinken deeply,Wer a nook, all dark but lew,By a bank, arisen steeply,Not to let the win' come drough.
Should my love goo out, a-showenAll her smiles, in open light;Or, in lewth, wi' wind a-blowen,Stay in darkness, dim to zight?Stay in sheaede o' bank or wallen,In the warmth, if not in light;Words alwone vrom her a-vallen,Would be jay vor all the night.
Words in this poem
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- steeply adv.
- In a steep manner; with steepness; with precipitous declivity.
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Light or Sheaede 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, Light or Sheaede, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/light-or-sheaede.html, id L02160.
Form and metre
Light or Sheaede is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic 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. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-AB-B- dyen · nightA · sighen · whiteA · deeplyB · lew · steeplyB · drough
- 2 ABABCBCB showenA · lightB · blowenA · zightB · wallenC · lightB · vallenC · nightB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A Maytide's evenen wer a-dyen, | 9 | ········· |
| Under moonsheen, into night, | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' a streamen wind a-sighen | 8 | ········ |
| By the thorns a-bloomen white. | 7 | ······· |
| Where in sheaede, a-zinken deeply, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Wer a nook, all dark but lew, | 7 | ······· |
| By a bank, arisen steeply, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Not to let the win' come drough. | 7 | ······· |
| Should my love goo out, a-showen | 8 | ········ |
| All her smiles, in open light; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or, in lewth, wi' wind a-blowen, | 8 | ········ |
| Stay in darkness, dim to zight? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stay in sheaede o' bank or wallen, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the warmth, if not in light; | 7 | ······· |
| Words alwone vrom her a-vallen, | 8 | ········ |
| Would be jay vor all the night. | 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.