The Blackbird
Ov all the birds upon the wingBetween the zunny show'rs o' spring,--Vor all the lark, a-swingen high,Mid zing below a cloudless sky.An' sparrows, clust'ren roun' the bough,Mid chatter to the men at plough,--The blackbird, whisslen in amongThe boughs, do zing the gayest zong.
Vor we do hear the blackbird zingHis sweetest ditties in the spring,When nippen win's noo mwore do blowVrom northern skies, wi' sleet or snow,But dr[=e]ve light doust along betweenThe leaene-zide hedges, thick an' green;An' zoo the blackbird in amongThe boughs do zing the gayest zong.
'Tis blithe, wi' newly-open'd eyes,To zee the mornen's ruddy skies;Or, out a-haulen frith or lopsVrom new-pl[=e]sh'd hedge or new-vell'd copse,To rest at noon in primrwose bedsBelow the white-bark'd woak-trees' heads;But there's noo time, the whole daey long,Lik' evenen wi' the blackbird's zong.
Vor when my work is all a-doneAvore the zetten o' the zun,Then blushen Jeaene do walk alongThe hedge to meet me in the drong,An' stay till all is dim an' darkBezides the ashen tree's white bark;An' all bezides the blackbird's shrillAn' runnen evenen-whissle's still.
An' there in bwoyhood I did roveWi' pryen eyes along the droveTo vind the nest the blackbird meaedeO' grass-stalks in the high bough's sheaede:Or clim' aloft, wi' clingen knees,Vor crows' aggs up in swayen trees,While frighten'd blackbirds down belowDid chatter o' their little foe.An' zoo there's noo pleaece lik' the drong,Where I do hear the blackbird's zong.
Words in this poem
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- frith n.
- A forest; a woody place. Drayton. [OE. frith peace, protection, land inclosed for hunting, park, forest, AS. fri peace; akin to freno peace, protection, asylum, G. friede peace, Icel. fri, and fr]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Blackbird 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 Blackbird, 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-blackbird.html, id L02041.
Form and metre
The Blackbird is 42 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 38% 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 AABBCCDD wingA · springA · highB · skyB · boughC · ploughC · amongD · zongD
- 2 AABBCCDD zingA · springA · blowB · snowB · betweenC · greenC · amongD · zongD
- 3 AABBCCDD eyesA · skiesA · lopsB · copseB · bedsC · headsC · longD · zongD
- 4 --AABBCC done · zun · alongA · drongA · darkB · barkB · shrillC · stillC
- 5 AABBCCDDEE roveA · droveA · meaedeB · sheaedeB · kneesC · treesC · belowD · foeD · drongE · zongE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ov all the birds upon the wing | 8 | ········ |
| Between the zunny show'rs o' spring,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Vor all the lark, a-swingen high, | 8 | ········ |
| Mid zing below a cloudless sky. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' sparrows, clust'ren roun' the bough, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Mid chatter to the men at plough,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The blackbird, whisslen in among | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The boughs, do zing the gayest zong. | 7 | ······· |
| Vor we do hear the blackbird zing | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His sweetest ditties in the spring, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When nippen win's noo mwore do blow | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom northern skies, wi' sleet or snow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But dr[=e]ve light doust along between | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The leaene-zide hedges, thick an' green; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' zoo the blackbird in among | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The boughs do zing the gayest zong. | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis blithe, wi' newly-open'd eyes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To zee the mornen's ruddy skies; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or, out a-haulen frith or lops | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom new-pl[=e]sh'd hedge or new-vell'd copse, | 10 | ·········· |
| To rest at noon in primrwose beds | 8 | ········ |
| Below the white-bark'd woak-trees' heads; | 8 | ········ |
| But there's noo time, the whole daey long, | 8 | ········ |
| Lik' evenen wi' the blackbird's zong. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Vor when my work is all a-done | 8 | ········ |
| Avore the zetten o' the zun, | 8 | ········ |
| Then blushen Jeaene do walk along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The hedge to meet me in the drong, | 8 | ········ |
| An' stay till all is dim an' dark | 8 | ········ |
| Bezides the ashen tree's white bark; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' all bezides the blackbird's shrill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' runnen evenen-whissle's still. | 8 | ········ |
| An' there in bwoyhood I did rove | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' pryen eyes along the drove | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| To vind the nest the blackbird meaede | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O' grass-stalks in the high bough's sheaede: | 8 | ········ |
| Or clim' aloft, wi' clingen knees, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Vor crows' aggs up in swayen trees, | 8 | ········ |
| While frighten'd blackbirds down below | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Did chatter o' their little foe. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' zoo there's noo pleaece lik' the drong, | 8 | ········ |
| Where I do hear the blackbird's zong. | 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.