Sliden
When wind wer keen,Where ivy-greenDid clwosely windRoun' woak-tree rind,An' ice shone bright,An' meaeds wer white, wi' thin-spread snowThen on the pond, a-spreaden wide,We bwoys did zweep along the slide,A-striken on in merry row.
There ruddy-feaeced,In busy heaeste,We all did wagA spanken lag,To win good speed,When we, straight-knee'd, wi' foreright tooes,Should shoot along the slipp'ry track,Wi' grinden sound, a-getten slack,The slower went our clumpen shoes.
Vor zome slow chap,Did teaeke mishap,As he did veelHis hinder heelA-het a thump,Wi' zome big lump, o' voot an' shoe.Down vell the voremost wi' a squall,An' down the next went wi' a sprawl,An' down went all the laughen crew.
As to an' fro,In merry row,We all went roundOn ice, on groundThe maidens nighA-stannen shy, did zee us slide,An' in their eaeprons small, did vwoldTheir little hands, a-got red-cwold,Or slide on ice o' two veet wide.
By leafless copse,An' beaere tree-tops,An' zun's low beams,An' ice-boun' streams,An' vrost-boun' mill,A-stannen still. Come wind, blow on,An' gi'e the bwoys, this Chris'mas tide,The glitt'ren ice to meaeke a slide,As we had our slide, years agone.
Words in this poem
- foreright a.
- Ready; directly forward; going before.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- vell n.
- The salted stomach of a calf, used in making cheese; a rennet bag. [Cf. L. vellus the skin of a sheep with the wool on it, a fleece, a hide or pelt, or E. fell a hide.]
- sprawl v. i.
- To spread and stretch the body or limbs carelessly in a horizontal position; to lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully. [OE. spraulen; cf. Sw. sprattla to sprawl, dial. Sw. spralla, Dan. spælle, sprælde, D. spartelen, spertelen, to flounder, to struggle.]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sliden 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, Sliden, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/sliden.html, id L02332.
Form and metre
Sliden is 45 lines in 5 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.8 syllables. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AABB-CDDC keenA · greenA · windB · rindB · bright · snowC · wideD · slideD · rowC
- 2 --AA--BB- feaeced · heaeste · wagA · lagA · speed · tooes · trackB · slackB · shoes
- 3 AABB-CDDC chapA · mishapA · veelB · heelB · thump · shoeC · squallD · sprawlD · crewC
- 4 AABB-CDDC froA · rowA · roundB · groundB · nigh · slideC · vwoldD · cwoldD · wideC
- 5 AABB--CC- copseA · topsA · beamsB · streamsB · mill · on · tideC · slideC · agone
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When wind wer keen, | 4 | ···· |
| Where ivy-green | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Did clwosely wind | 5 | ····· |
| Roun' woak-tree rind, | 4 | ···· |
| An' ice shone bright, | 4 | ···· |
| An' meaeds wer white, wi' thin-spread snow | 8 | ········ |
| Then on the pond, a-spreaden wide, | 8 | ········ |
| We bwoys did zweep along the slide, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A-striken on in merry row. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There ruddy-feaeced, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In busy heaeste, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We all did wag | 4 | ···· |
| A spanken lag, | 4 | ···· |
| To win good speed, | 4 | ···· |
| When we, straight-knee'd, wi' foreright tooes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should shoot along the slipp'ry track, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Wi' grinden sound, a-getten slack, | 8 | ········ |
| The slower went our clumpen shoes. | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Vor zome slow chap, | 4 | ···· |
| Did teaeke mishap, | 4 | ··/· |
| As he did veel | 4 | ···· |
| His hinder heel | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A-het a thump, | 4 | ···· |
| Wi' zome big lump, o' voot an' shoe. | 8 | ········ |
| Down vell the voremost wi' a squall, | 9 | ········· |
| An' down the next went wi' a sprawl, | 8 | ········ |
| An' down went all the laughen crew. | 8 | ········ |
| As to an' fro, | 4 | ···· |
| In merry row, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We all went round | 4 | ···· |
| On ice, on ground | 4 | ···· |
| The maidens nigh | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A-stannen shy, did zee us slide, | 8 | ········ |
| An' in their eaeprons small, did vwold | 8 | ········ |
| Their little hands, a-got red-cwold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or slide on ice o' two veet wide. | 8 | ········ |
| By leafless copse, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| An' beaere tree-tops, | 4 | ···· |
| An' zun's low beams, | 4 | ···· |
| An' ice-boun' streams, | 4 | ···· |
| An' vrost-boun' mill, | 4 | ···· |
| A-stannen still. Come wind, blow on, | 8 | ········ |
| An' gi'e the bwoys, this Chris'mas tide, | 8 | ········ |
| The glitt'ren ice to meaeke a slide, | 8 | ········ |
| As we had our slide, years agone. | 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.