Meaery Wedded
The zun can zink, the stars mid rise,An' woods be green to sheenen skies;The cock mid crow to mornen light,An' workvo'k zing to vallen night;The birds mid whissle on the spray,An' childern leaep in merry play,But our's is now a lifeless pleaece,Vor we've a-lost a smilen feaece--Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood,Vor she's a-woo'd an' wedded.
The dog that woonce wer glad to bearHer fondlen vingers down his heaeir,Do leaen his head ageaen the vloor,To watch, wi' heavy eyes, the door;An' men she zent so happy hwomeO' Zadurdays, do seem to comeTo door, wi' downcast hearts, to missWi' smiles below the clematis,Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood,Vor she's a-woo'd an' wedded.
When they do draw the evenen blind,An' when the evenen light's a-tin'd,The cheerless vier do drow a gleaereO' light ageaen her empty chair;An' wordless gaps do now meaeke thinTheir talk where woonce her vaice come in.Zoo lwonesome is her empty pleaece,An' blest the house that ha' the feaeceO' Meaery Meaed, o' merry mood,Now she's a-woo'd and wedded.
The day she left her father's he'th,Though sad, wer kept a day o' me'th,An' dry-wheel'd waggons' empty bedsWer left 'ithin the tree-screen'd sheds;An' all the hosses, at their eaese,Went snorten up the flow'ry leaese,But woone, the smartest for the roaed,That pull'd away the dearest lwoad--Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood,That wer a-woo'd an' wedded.
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- clematis n.
- A genus of flowering plants, of many species, mostly climbers, having feathery styles, which greatly enlarge in the fruit; -- called also virgin's bower.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Meaery Wedded 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, Meaery Wedded, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/meaery-wedded.html, id L02170.
Form and metre
Meaery Wedded is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 5 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 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 AABBCCDDEE riseA · skiesA · lightB · nightB · sprayC · playC · pleaeceD · feaeceD · moodE · weddedE
- 2 --AA--BBCC bear · heaeir · vloorA · doorA · hwome · come · missB · clematisB · moodC · weddedC
- 3 AA--BBCCDD blindA · tin'dA · gleaere · chair · thinB · inB · pleaeceC · feaeceC · moodD · weddedD
- 4 AABBCC--DD he'thA · me'thA · bedsB · shedsB · eaeseC · leaeseC · roaed · lwoad · moodD · weddedD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The zun can zink, the stars mid rise, | 8 | ········ |
| An' woods be green to sheenen skies; | 8 | ········ |
| The cock mid crow to mornen light, | 8 | ········ |
| An' workvo'k zing to vallen night; | 8 | ········ |
| The birds mid whissle on the spray, | 8 | ········ |
| An' childern leaep in merry play, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But our's is now a lifeless pleaece, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Vor we've a-lost a smilen feaece-- | 8 | ········ |
| Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Vor she's a-woo'd an' wedded. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The dog that woonce wer glad to bear | 8 | ········ |
| Her fondlen vingers down his heaeir, | 8 | ········ |
| Do leaen his head ageaen the vloor, | 8 | ········ |
| To watch, wi' heavy eyes, the door; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' men she zent so happy hwome | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O' Zadurdays, do seem to come | 8 | ········ |
| To door, wi' downcast hearts, to miss | 8 | ···/···· |
| Wi' smiles below the clematis, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Vor she's a-woo'd an' wedded. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When they do draw the evenen blind, | 9 | ········· |
| An' when the evenen light's a-tin'd, | 9 | ········· |
| The cheerless vier do drow a gleaere | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O' light ageaen her empty chair; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' wordless gaps do now meaeke thin | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their talk where woonce her vaice come in. | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo lwonesome is her empty pleaece, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| An' blest the house that ha' the feaece | 8 | ········ |
| O' Meaery Meaed, o' merry mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Now she's a-woo'd and wedded. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The day she left her father's he'th, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though sad, wer kept a day o' me'th, | 8 | ········ |
| An' dry-wheel'd waggons' empty beds | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wer left 'ithin the tree-screen'd sheds; | 8 | ········ |
| An' all the hosses, at their eaese, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Went snorten up the flow'ry leaese, | 8 | ········ |
| But woone, the smartest for the roaed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That pull'd away the dearest lwoad-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Young Meaery Meaed o' merry mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That wer a-woo'd an' wedded. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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