The Carter
O, I be a carter, wi' my whipA-smacken loud, as by my zide,Up over hill, an' down the dip,The heavy lwoad do slowly ride.
An' I do haul in all the crops,An' I do bring in vuzz vrom down;An' I do goo vor wood to copse,An' car the corn an' straw to town.
An' I do goo vor lime, an' bringHwome cider wi' my sleek-heaeir'd team,An' smack my limber whip an' zing,While all their bells do gaily cheeme.
An' I do always know the pleaeceTo gi'e the hosses breath, or drug;An' ev'ry hoss do know my feaece,An' mind my 'mether ho! an' whug!
An' merry hay-meaekers do rideVrom vield in zummer wi' their prongs,In my blue waggon, zide by zideUpon the reaeves, a-zingen zongs.
An' when the vrost do catch the stream,An' oves wi' icicles be hung,My panten hosses' breath do steamIn white-grass'd vields, a-haulen dung.
An' mine's the waggon fit vor lwoads,An' mine be lwoads to cut a rout;An' mine's a team, in routy rwoads,To pull a lwoaded waggon out.
A zull is nothen when do comeBehind their lags; an' they do teaekeA roller as they would a drum,An' harrow as they would a reaeke.
O! I be a carter, wi' my whipA-smacken loud, as by my zide,Up over hill, an' down the dip,The heavy lwoad do slowly ride.
Words in this poem
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Carter 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 Carter, 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-carter.html, id L02105.
Form and metre
The Carter is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 25% 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 ABAB whipA · zideB · dipA · rideB
- 2 ABAB cropsA · downB · copseA · townB
- 3 ABAB bringA · teamB · zingA · cheemeB
- 4 ABAB pleaeceA · drugB · feaeceA · whugB
- 5 ABAB rideA · prongsB · zideA · zongsB
- 6 ABAB streamA · hungB · steamA · dungB
- 7 ABAB lwoadsA · routB · rwoadsA · outB
- 8 ABAB comeA · teaekeB · drumA · reaekeB
- 9 ABAB whipA · zideB · dipA · rideB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O, I be a carter, wi' my whip | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| A-smacken loud, as by my zide, | 8 | ········ |
| Up over hill, an' down the dip, | 8 | ········ |
| The heavy lwoad do slowly ride. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' I do haul in all the crops, | 8 | ········ |
| An' I do bring in vuzz vrom down; | 8 | ········ |
| An' I do goo vor wood to copse, | 8 | ········ |
| An' car the corn an' straw to town. | 8 | ········ |
| An' I do goo vor lime, an' bring | 8 | ········ |
| Hwome cider wi' my sleek-heaeir'd team, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' smack my limber whip an' zing, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While all their bells do gaily cheeme. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' I do always know the pleaece | 8 | ···/···· |
| To gi'e the hosses breath, or drug; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' ev'ry hoss do know my feaece, | 8 | ········ |
| An' mind my 'mether ho! an' whug! | 8 | ········ |
| An' merry hay-meaekers do ride | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Vrom vield in zummer wi' their prongs, | 8 | ········ |
| In my blue waggon, zide by zide | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the reaeves, a-zingen zongs. | 8 | ········ |
| An' when the vrost do catch the stream, | 8 | ········ |
| An' oves wi' icicles be hung, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| My panten hosses' breath do steam | 8 | ········ |
| In white-grass'd vields, a-haulen dung. | 8 | ········ |
| An' mine's the waggon fit vor lwoads, | 8 | ········ |
| An' mine be lwoads to cut a rout; | 8 | ········ |
| An' mine's a team, in routy rwoads, | 8 | ········ |
| To pull a lwoaded waggon out. | 8 | ········ |
| A zull is nothen when do come | 8 | ········ |
| Behind their lags; an' they do teaeke | 8 | ········ |
| A roller as they would a drum, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' harrow as they would a reaeke. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O! I be a carter, wi' my whip | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| A-smacken loud, as by my zide, | 8 | ········ |
| Up over hill, an' down the dip, | 8 | ········ |
| The heavy lwoad do slowly ride. | 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.