Milken Time
'Twer when the busy birds did vlee,Wi' sheenen wings, vrom tree to tree,To build upon the mossy lim',Their hollow nestes' rounded rim;The while the zun, a-zinken low,Did roll along his evenen bow,I come along where wide-horn'd cows,'Ithin a nook, a-screen'd by boughs,Did stan' an' flip the white-hoop'd pailsWi' heaeiry tufts o' swingen tails;An' there wer Jenny Coom a-goneAlong the path a vew steps on.A-beaeren on her head, upstraight,Her pail, wi' slowly-riden waight,An' hoops a-sheenen, lily-white,Ageaen the evenen's slanten light;An' zo I took her pail, an' leftHer neck a-freed vrom all his heft;An' she a-looken up an' down,Wi' sheaepely head an' glossy crown,Then took my zide, an' kept my peaeceA-talken on wi' smilen feaece,An' zetten things in sich a light,I'd fain ha' heaer'd her talk all night;An' when I brought her milk avoreThe geaete, she took it in to door,An' if her pail had but allow'dHer head to vall, she would ha' bow'd,An' still, as 'twer, I had the zightOv her sweet smile droughout 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.]
- flip n.
- A mixture of beer, spirit, etc., stirred and heated by a hot iron. Flip dog, an iron used, when heated, to warm flip. [Cf. Prov. E. flip nimble, flippant, also, a slight blow. Cf. Flippant.]
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- coom n.
- Soot; coal dust; refuse matter, as the dirty grease which comes from axle boxes, or the refuse at the mouth of an oven. Phillips. [Cf. G. kahm mold gathered on liquids, D. kam, Sw. kimrök pine soot, smoke black, Icel. kam grime, film of dirt.]
- heft n.
- The act or effort of heaving [From Heave: cf. hefe weight. Cf. Haft.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Milken Time 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, Milken Time, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/milken-time.html, id L02193.
Form and metre
Milken Time is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 23% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKHHLLMMHH vleeA · treeA · limB · rimB · lowC · bowC · cowsD · boughsD · pailsE · tailsE · goneF · onF · upstraightG · waightG · whiteH · lightH · leftI · heftI · downJ · crownJ · peaeceK · feaeceK · lightH · nightH · avoreL · doorL · allow'dM · bow'dM · zightH · nightH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twer when the busy birds did vlee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wi' sheenen wings, vrom tree to tree, | 8 | ········ |
| To build upon the mossy lim', | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their hollow nestes' rounded rim; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| The while the zun, a-zinken low, | 8 | ········ |
| Did roll along his evenen bow, | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| I come along where wide-horn'd cows, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| 'Ithin a nook, a-screen'd by boughs, | 8 | ········ |
| Did stan' an' flip the white-hoop'd pails | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' heaeiry tufts o' swingen tails; | 8 | ········ |
| An' there wer Jenny Coom a-gone | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along the path a vew steps on. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| A-beaeren on her head, upstraight, | 8 | ········ |
| Her pail, wi' slowly-riden waight, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An' hoops a-sheenen, lily-white, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ageaen the evenen's slanten light; | 11 | ··········· |
| An' zo I took her pail, an' left | 8 | ········ |
| Her neck a-freed vrom all his heft; | 8 | ········ |
| An' she a-looken up an' down, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' sheaepely head an' glossy crown, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Then took my zide, an' kept my peaece | 8 | ········ |
| A-talken on wi' smilen feaece, | 8 | ········ |
| An' zetten things in sich a light, | 10 | ·········· |
| I'd fain ha' heaer'd her talk all night; | 8 | ········ |
| An' when I brought her milk avore | 8 | ········ |
| The geaete, she took it in to door, | 8 | ········ |
| An' if her pail had but allow'd | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Her head to vall, she would ha' bow'd, | 8 | ········ |
| An' still, as 'twer, I had the zight | 8 | ········ |
| Ov her sweet smile droughout the night. | 8 | ········ |
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.