Pity
Good Meaester Collins! aye, how mild he spokeWoone day o' Mercy to zome cruel vo'k."No, no. Have Mercy on a helpless head,An' don't be cruel to a zoul," he zaid."When Babylon's king woonce cast 'ithinThe viery furnace, in his spite,The vetter'd souls whose only sinWer prayer to the God o' might,He vound a fourth, 'ithout a neaeme,A-walken wi' em in the fleaeme.
An' zoo, whenever we mid hurt,Vrom spite, or vrom disdain,A brother's soul, or meaeke en smertWi' keen an' needless pain,Another that we midden knowIs always wi' en in his woe.Vor you do know our Lord ha' cried,"By faith my bretheren do bideIn me the liven vine,As branches in a liven tree;Whatever you've a-done to mineIs all a-done to me.Oh! when the new-born child, the e'th's new guest,Do lie an' heave his little breast,In pillow'd sleep, wi' sweetest breathO' sinless days drough rwosy lips a-drawn;Then, if a han' can smite en in his dawnO' life to darksome death,Oh! where can Pity ever vwoldHer wings o' swiftness vrom their holy flight,To leaeve a heart o' flesh an' blood so cwoldAt such a touchen zight?An' zoo mid meek-soul'd Pity stillBe zent to check our evil will,An' keep the helpless soul from woe,An' hold the hardened heart vrom sin.Vor they that can but mercy showShall all their Father's mercy win."
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- needless a.
- Having no need.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- sinless a.
- Free from sin. Piers Plowman.
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pity 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, Pity, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/pity.html, id L02357.
Form and metre
Pity is 38 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 34% 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 -----A-ABB spoke · vo'k · head · zaid · ithin · spiteA · sin · mightA · neaemeB · fleaemeB
- 2 -A-ABBCCDEDEFFGHHGIJIJKKBLBL hurt · disdainA · smert · painA · knowB · woeB · criedC · bideC · vineD · treeE · mineD · meE · guestF · breastF · breathG · drawnH · dawnH · deathG · vwoldI · flightJ · cwoldI · zightJ · stillK · willK · woeB · sinL · showB · winL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Good Meaester Collins! aye, how mild he spoke | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Woone day o' Mercy to zome cruel vo'k. | 9 | ···/˘··/· |
| "No, no. Have Mercy on a helpless head, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| An' don't be cruel to a zoul," he zaid. | 9 | ···/····· |
| "When Babylon's king woonce cast 'ithin | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The viery furnace, in his spite, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The vetter'd souls whose only sin | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wer prayer to the God o' might, | 7 | ······· |
| He vound a fourth, 'ithout a neaeme, | 8 | ········ |
| A-walken wi' em in the fleaeme. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' zoo, whenever we mid hurt, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Vrom spite, or vrom disdain, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A brother's soul, or meaeke en smert | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wi' keen an' needless pain, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Another that we midden know | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Is always wi' en in his woe. | 8 | ·/······ |
| Vor you do know our Lord ha' cried, | 8 | ····/··· |
| "By faith my bretheren do bide | 8 | ········ |
| In me the liven vine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As branches in a liven tree; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whatever you've a-done to mine | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is all a-done to me. | 6 | ······ |
| Oh! when the new-born child, the e'th's new guest, | 10 | ·········· |
| Do lie an' heave his little breast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In pillow'd sleep, wi' sweetest breath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O' sinless days drough rwosy lips a-drawn; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then, if a han' can smite en in his dawn | 10 | ·········· |
| O' life to darksome death, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh! where can Pity ever vwold | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her wings o' swiftness vrom their holy flight, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To leaeve a heart o' flesh an' blood so cwold | 10 | ·········· |
| At such a touchen zight? | 6 | ······ |
| An' zoo mid meek-soul'd Pity still | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Be zent to check our evil will, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| An' keep the helpless soul from woe, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' hold the hardened heart vrom sin. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vor they that can but mercy show | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall all their Father's mercy win." | 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.