Our Be'Thplace
How dear's the door a latch do shut,An' geaerden that a hatch do shut,Where vu'st our bloomen cheaeks ha' prestThe pillor ov our childhood's rest;Or where, wi' little tooes, we woreThe paths our fathers trod avore;Or clim'd the timber's bark aloft,Below the zingen lark aloft,The while we heaerd the echo soundDrough all the ringen valley round.
A lwonesome grove o' woak did rise,To screen our house, where smoke did rise,A-twisten blue, while yeet the zunDid langthen on our childhood's fun;An' there, wi' all the sheaepes an' soundsO' life, among the timber'd grounds,The birds upon their boughs did zing,An' milkmaids by their cows did zing,Wi' merry sounds, that softly died,A-ringen down the valley zide.
By river banks, wi' reeds a-bound,An' sheenen pools, wi' weeds a-bound,The long-neck'd gander's ruddy billTo snow-white geese did cackle sh'ill;An' striden peewits heaesten'd by,O' tiptooe wi' their screamen cry;An' stalken cows a-lowen loud,An' strutten cocks a-crowen loud,Did rouse the echoes up to mockTheir mingled sounds by hill an' rock.
The stars that clim'd our skies all dark,Above our sleepen eyes all dark,An' zuns a-rollen round to bringThe seasons on, vrom Spring to Spring,Ha' vled, wi' never-resten flight,Drough green-bough'd day, an' dark-tree'd night;Till now our childhood's pleaeces there,Be gay wi' other feaeces there,An' we ourselves do vollow onOur own vorelivers dead an' gone.
Words in this poem
- latch v. t.
- To smear; to anoint. [Cf. F. lécher to lick (of German origin). Cf. Lick.]
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- cackle v. i.
- To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does. [OE. cakelen; cf. LG. kakeln, D. kakelen, G. gackeln, gackern; all of imitative origin. Cf. Gagle, Cake to cackle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Our Be'Thplace 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, Our Be'Thplace, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/our-be-thplace.html, id L02180.
Form and metre
Our Be'Thplace is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDDEE, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 22% 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 AABBCCDDEE shutA · shutA · prestB · restB · woreC · avoreC · aloftD · aloftD · soundE · roundE
- 2 AA--BBCCDD riseA · riseA · zun · fun · soundsB · groundsB · zingC · zingC · diedD · zideD
- 3 AABBCCDDEE boundA · boundA · billB · sh'illB · byC · cryC · loudD · loudD · mockE · rockE
- 4 AABBCCDDEE darkA · darkA · bringB · springB · flightC · nightC · thereD · thereD · onE · goneE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How dear's the door a latch do shut, | 8 | ········ |
| An' geaerden that a hatch do shut, | 8 | ········ |
| Where vu'st our bloomen cheaeks ha' prest | 8 | ··/····· |
| The pillor ov our childhood's rest; | 8 | ····//·· |
| Or where, wi' little tooes, we wore | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The paths our fathers trod avore; | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Or clim'd the timber's bark aloft, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Below the zingen lark aloft, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The while we heaerd the echo sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Drough all the ringen valley round. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A lwonesome grove o' woak did rise, | 9 | ········· |
| To screen our house, where smoke did rise, | 8 | ··/····· |
| A-twisten blue, while yeet the zun | 8 | ········ |
| Did langthen on our childhood's fun; | 8 | ····//·· |
| An' there, wi' all the sheaepes an' sounds | 8 | ········ |
| O' life, among the timber'd grounds, | 8 | ········ |
| The birds upon their boughs did zing, | 8 | ········ |
| An' milkmaids by their cows did zing, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' merry sounds, that softly died, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A-ringen down the valley zide. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By river banks, wi' reeds a-bound, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' sheenen pools, wi' weeds a-bound, | 8 | ········ |
| The long-neck'd gander's ruddy bill | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To snow-white geese did cackle sh'ill; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' striden peewits heaesten'd by, | 8 | ········ |
| O' tiptooe wi' their screamen cry; | 8 | ········ |
| An' stalken cows a-lowen loud, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' strutten cocks a-crowen loud, | 8 | ········ |
| Did rouse the echoes up to mock | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their mingled sounds by hill an' rock. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The stars that clim'd our skies all dark, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Above our sleepen eyes all dark, | 8 | ··/····· |
| An' zuns a-rollen round to bring | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The seasons on, vrom Spring to Spring, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ha' vled, wi' never-resten flight, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drough green-bough'd day, an' dark-tree'd night; | 8 | ········ |
| Till now our childhood's pleaeces there, | 8 | ··//···· |
| Be gay wi' other feaeces there, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' we ourselves do vollow on | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Our own vorelivers dead an' gone. | 9 | /········ |
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.