Spring
Now the zunny air's a-blowenSoftly over flowers a-growen;An' the sparklen light do quiverOn the ivy-bough an' river;Bleaeten lambs, wi' woolly feaeces,Now do play, a-runnen reaeces;An' the springenLark's a-zingen,Lik' a dot avore the cloud,High above the ashes sh'oud.
Housen, in the open brightness,Now do sheen in spots o' whiteness;Here an' there, on upland ledges,In among the trees an' hedges,Where, along by vlocks o' sparrows,Chatt'ren at the ploughman's harrows.Dousty rwoaded,Errand-lwoaded;Jenny, though her cloak is thin,Do wish en hwome upon the pin.
Zoo come along, noo longer heedvulOv the vier, leaetely needvul,Over grass o' slopen leaezes,Zingen zongs in zunny breezes;Out to work in copse, a-mooten,Where the primrwose is a-shooten,An in gladness,Free o' sadness,In the warmth o' Spring vorgetLeafless winter's cwold an' wet.
Words in this poem
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spring 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, Spring, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/spring.html, id L02197.
Form and metre
Spring is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDDEE, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 blowenA · growenA · quiverB · riverB · feaecesC · reaecesC · springenD · zingenD · cloudE · sh'oudE
- 2 AABB--CCDD brightnessA · whitenessA · ledgesB · hedgesB · sparrows · harrows · rwoadedC · lwoadedC · thinD · pinD
- 3 AABBCCDDEE heedvulA · needvulA · leaezesB · breezesB · mootenC · shootenC · gladnessD · sadnessD · vorgetE · wetE
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now the zunny air's a-blowen | 8 | ········ |
| Softly over flowers a-growen; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| An' the sparklen light do quiver | 8 | ······/˘ |
| On the ivy-bough an' river; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Bleaeten lambs, wi' woolly feaeces, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Now do play, a-runnen reaeces; | 8 | ········ |
| An' the springen | 4 | ···· |
| Lark's a-zingen, | 4 | ···· |
| Lik' a dot avore the cloud, | 7 | ······· |
| High above the ashes sh'oud. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Housen, in the open brightness, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Now do sheen in spots o' whiteness; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Here an' there, on upland ledges, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| In among the trees an' hedges, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where, along by vlocks o' sparrows, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Chatt'ren at the ploughman's harrows. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Dousty rwoaded, | 4 | ···· |
| Errand-lwoaded; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Jenny, though her cloak is thin, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Do wish en hwome upon the pin. | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo come along, noo longer heedvul | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| Ov the vier, leaetely needvul, | 8 | ········ |
| Over grass o' slopen leaezes, | 8 | ········ |
| Zingen zongs in zunny breezes; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Out to work in copse, a-mooten, | 8 | ········ |
| Where the primrwose is a-shooten, | 8 | ········ |
| An in gladness, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Free o' sadness, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| In the warmth o' Spring vorget | 7 | ······· |
| Leafless winter's cwold an' wet. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
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