Seats
When starbright maidens be to zitIn silken frocks, that they do wear,The room mid have, as 'tis but fit,A han'some seat vor vo'k so feaeir;But we, in zun-dried vield an' wood,Ha' seats as good's a goolden chair.
Vor here, 'ithin the woody drong,A ribbed elem-stem do lie,A-vell'd in Spring, an' stratch'd alongA bed o' graegles up knee-high,A sheaedy seat to rest, an' letThe burnen het o' noon goo by.
Or if you'd look, wi' wider scope,Out where the gray-tree'd plain do spread,The ash bezide the zunny slope,Do sheaede a cool-air'd deaeisy bed,An' grassy seat, wi' spreaden eavesO' rus'len leaves, above your head.
An' there the train mid come in zight,Too vur to hear a-rollen by,A-breathen quick, in heaesty flight,His breath o' tweil, avore the sky,The while the waggon, wi' his lwoad,Do crawl the rwoad a-winden nigh.
Or now theaese happy holidayDo let vo'k rest their weaery lim's,An' lwoaded hay's a-hangen gray,Above the waggon-wheels' dry rims,The meaed ha' seats in weaeles or pooks,By winden brooks, wi' crumblen brims.
Or if you'd gi'e your thoughtvul mindTo yonder long-vorseaeken hall,Then teaeke a stwonen seat behindThe ivy on the broken wall,An' learn how e'thly wealth an' mightMid clim' their height, an' then mid vall.
Words in this poem
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Seats 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, Seats, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/seats.html, id L02210.
Form and metre
Seats is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 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 -A---A zit · wearA · fit · feaeir · wood · chairA
- 2 ABAB-B drongA · lieB · alongA · highB · let · byB
- 3 ABAB-B scopeA · spreadB · slopeA · bedB · eaves · headB
- 4 ABAB-B zightA · byB · flightA · skyB · lwoad · nighB
- 5 ABAB-B holidayA · lim'sB · grayA · rimsB · pooks · brimsB
- 6 ABAB-- mindA · hallB · behindA · wallB · might · vall
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When starbright maidens be to zit | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In silken frocks, that they do wear, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The room mid have, as 'tis but fit, | 8 | ········ |
| A han'some seat vor vo'k so feaeir; | 8 | ········ |
| But we, in zun-dried vield an' wood, | 8 | ········ |
| Ha' seats as good's a goolden chair. | 8 | ········ |
| Vor here, 'ithin the woody drong, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A ribbed elem-stem do lie, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| A-vell'd in Spring, an' stratch'd along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A bed o' graegles up knee-high, | 7 | ······· |
| A sheaedy seat to rest, an' let | 8 | ········ |
| The burnen het o' noon goo by. | 8 | ········ |
| Or if you'd look, wi' wider scope, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Out where the gray-tree'd plain do spread, | 8 | ········ |
| The ash bezide the zunny slope, | 8 | ········ |
| Do sheaede a cool-air'd deaeisy bed, | 8 | ········ |
| An' grassy seat, wi' spreaden eaves | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O' rus'len leaves, above your head. | 8 | ········ |
| An' there the train mid come in zight, | 8 | ········ |
| Too vur to hear a-rollen by, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-breathen quick, in heaesty flight, | 8 | ········ |
| His breath o' tweil, avore the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| The while the waggon, wi' his lwoad, | 8 | ········ |
| Do crawl the rwoad a-winden nigh. | 8 | ········ |
| Or now theaese happy holiday | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Do let vo'k rest their weaery lim's, | 8 | ········ |
| An' lwoaded hay's a-hangen gray, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above the waggon-wheels' dry rims, | 8 | ········ |
| The meaed ha' seats in weaeles or pooks, | 8 | ········ |
| By winden brooks, wi' crumblen brims. | 8 | ········ |
| Or if you'd gi'e your thoughtvul mind | 8 | ········ |
| To yonder long-vorseaeken hall, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Then teaeke a stwonen seat behind | 8 | ········ |
| The ivy on the broken wall, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' learn how e'thly wealth an' might | 8 | ········ |
| Mid clim' their height, an' then mid vall. | 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.