The Beam in Grenley Church
In church at Grenley woone mid zeeA beam vrom wall to wall; a treeThat's longer than the church is wide,An' zoo woone end o'n's drough outside,--Not cut off short, but bound all roundWi' lead, to keep en seaefe an' sound.
Back when the builders vu'st begunThe church,--as still the teaele do run,--A man work'd wi' em; no man knewWho 'twer, nor whither he did goo.He wer as harmless as a chile,An' work'd 'ithout a frown or smile,Till any woaths or strife did riseTo overcast his sparklen eyes:
An' then he'd call their minds vrom strife,To think upon another life.He wer so strong, that all alwoneHe lifted beams an' blocks o' stwone,That others, with the girtest pains,Could hardly wag wi' bars an' chains;An' yet he never used to stayO' Zaturdays, to teaeke his pay.
Woone day the men wer out o' heart,To have a beam a-cut too short;An' in the evenen, when they shutOff work, they left en where 'twer put;An' while dumb night went softly byTowards the vi'ry western sky,A-lullen birds, an' shutten upThe deaeisy an' the butter cup,They went to lay their heavy headsAn' weary bwones upon their beds.
An' when the dewy mornen broke,An' show'd the worold, fresh awoke,Their godly work ageaen, they voundThe beam they left upon the groundA-put in pleaece, where still do bide,An' long enough to reach outzide.But he unknown to tother menWer never there at work ageaen:Zoo whether he mid be a manOr angel, wi' a helpen han',Or whether all o't wer a dream,They didden deaere to cut the beam.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- overcast v. t.
- To cast or cover over; hence, to cloud; to darken.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Beam in Grenley Church 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, The Beam in Grenley Church, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/the-beam-in-grenley-church.html, id L02136.
Form and metre
The Beam in Grenley Church is 44 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCC zeeA · treeA · wideB · outsideB · roundC · soundC
- 2 AABB--CC begunA · runA · knewB · gooB · chile · smile · riseC · eyesC
- 3 AABBCCDD strifeA · lifeA · alwoneB · stwoneB · painsC · chainsC · stayD · payD
- 4 ----AABBCC heart · short · shut · put · byA · skyA · upB · cupB · headsC · bedsC
- 5 AABBCC-DDDEE brokeA · awokeA · voundB · groundB · bideC · outzideC · men · ageaenD · manD · hanD · dreamE · beamE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In church at Grenley woone mid zee | 9 | ········· |
| A beam vrom wall to wall; a tree | 8 | ········ |
| That's longer than the church is wide, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' zoo woone end o'n's drough outside,-- | 8 | ······// |
| Not cut off short, but bound all round | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' lead, to keep en seaefe an' sound. | 8 | ········ |
| Back when the builders vu'st begun | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The church,--as still the teaele do run,-- | 9 | ········· |
| A man work'd wi' em; no man knew | 8 | ········ |
| Who 'twer, nor whither he did goo. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He wer as harmless as a chile, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| An' work'd 'ithout a frown or smile, | 8 | ········ |
| Till any woaths or strife did rise | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To overcast his sparklen eyes: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' then he'd call their minds vrom strife, | 8 | ········ |
| To think upon another life. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| He wer so strong, that all alwone | 8 | ········ |
| He lifted beams an' blocks o' stwone, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That others, with the girtest pains, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Could hardly wag wi' bars an' chains; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' yet he never used to stay | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O' Zaturdays, to teaeke his pay. | 8 | ········ |
| Woone day the men wer out o' heart, | 8 | ········ |
| To have a beam a-cut too short; | 8 | ········ |
| An' in the evenen, when they shut | 9 | ········· |
| Off work, they left en where 'twer put; | 8 | ········ |
| An' while dumb night went softly by | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Towards the vi'ry western sky, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-lullen birds, an' shutten up | 8 | ········ |
| The deaeisy an' the butter cup, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They went to lay their heavy heads | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' weary bwones upon their beds. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' when the dewy mornen broke, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' show'd the worold, fresh awoke, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Their godly work ageaen, they vound | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The beam they left upon the ground | 8 | ········ |
| A-put in pleaece, where still do bide, | 8 | ········ |
| An' long enough to reach outzide. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But he unknown to tother men | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Wer never there at work ageaen: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Zoo whether he mid be a man | 8 | ········ |
| Or angel, wi' a helpen han', | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or whether all o't wer a dream, | 8 | ········ |
| They didden deaere to cut the beam. | 8 | ········ |
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