The Church an' Happy Zunday
Ah! ev'ry day mid bring a whileO' eaese vrom all woone's ceaere an' tweil,The welcome evenen, when 'tis sweetVor tired friends wi' weary veet,But litsome hearts o' love, to meet;An' yet while weekly times do roll,The best vor body an' vor soul'S the church an' happy Zunday.
Vor then our loosen'd souls do riseWi' holy thoughts beyond the skies,As we do think o' Him that shedHis blood vor us, an' still do spreadHis love upon the live an' dead;An' how He gi'ed a time an' pleaeceTo gather us, an' gi'e us greaece,--The church an' happy Zunday.
There, under leaenen mossy stwones,Do lie, vorgot, our fathers' bwones,That trod this groun' vor years agoo,When things that now be wold wer new;An' comely maidens, mild an' true,That meaede their sweet-hearts happy brides,An' come to kneel down at their zidesAt church o' happy Zundays.
'Tis good to zee woone's naighbours comeOut drough the churchyard, vlocken hwome,As woone do nod, an' woone do smile,An' woone do toss another's chile;An' zome be sheaeken han's, the whilePoll's uncle, chucken her belowHer chin, do tell her she do grow,At church o' happy Zundays.
Zoo while our blood do run in vainsO' liven souls in theaesum plains,Mid happy housen smoky roundThe church an' holy bit o' ground;An' while their wedden bells do sound,Oh! mid em have the meaens o' greaece,The holy day an' holy pleaece,The church an' happy Zunday.
Words in this poem
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Church an' Happy Zunday 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 Church an' Happy Zunday, 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-church-an-happy-zunday.html, id L02126.
Form and metre
The Church an' Happy Zunday is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% 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 AABBBCC- whileA · tweilA · sweetB · veetB · meetB · rollC · soulC · zunday
- 2 AABBBCC- riseA · skiesA · shedB · spreadB · deadB · pleaeceC · greaeceC · zunday
- 3 AA-BBCC- stwonesA · bwonesA · agoo · newB · trueB · bridesC · zidesC · zundays
- 4 --A-ABB- come · hwome · smileA · chile · whileA · belowB · growB · zundays
- 5 AABBBCC- vainsA · plainsA · roundB · groundB · soundB · greaeceC · pleaeceC · zunday
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ah! ev'ry day mid bring a while | 8 | ········ |
| O' eaese vrom all woone's ceaere an' tweil, | 8 | ········ |
| The welcome evenen, when 'tis sweet | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Vor tired friends wi' weary veet, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But litsome hearts o' love, to meet; | 8 | ········ |
| An' yet while weekly times do roll, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The best vor body an' vor soul | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'S the church an' happy Zunday. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Vor then our loosen'd souls do rise | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Wi' holy thoughts beyond the skies, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As we do think o' Him that shed | 8 | ········ |
| His blood vor us, an' still do spread | 8 | ········ |
| His love upon the live an' dead; | 8 | ········ |
| An' how He gi'ed a time an' pleaece | 8 | ········ |
| To gather us, an' gi'e us greaece,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The church an' happy Zunday. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| There, under leaenen mossy stwones, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Do lie, vorgot, our fathers' bwones, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| That trod this groun' vor years agoo, | 8 | ········ |
| When things that now be wold wer new; | 8 | ········ |
| An' comely maidens, mild an' true, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That meaede their sweet-hearts happy brides, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' come to kneel down at their zides | 8 | ········ |
| At church o' happy Zundays. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| 'Tis good to zee woone's naighbours come | 8 | ········ |
| Out drough the churchyard, vlocken hwome, | 8 | ···/···· |
| As woone do nod, an' woone do smile, | 8 | ········ |
| An' woone do toss another's chile; | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| An' zome be sheaeken han's, the while | 8 | ········ |
| Poll's uncle, chucken her below | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her chin, do tell her she do grow, | 8 | ········ |
| At church o' happy Zundays. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Zoo while our blood do run in vains | 8 | ··/····· |
| O' liven souls in theaesum plains, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Mid happy housen smoky round | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The church an' holy bit o' ground; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' while their wedden bells do sound, | 8 | ········ |
| Oh! mid em have the meaens o' greaece, | 8 | ········ |
| The holy day an' holy pleaece, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The church an' happy Zunday. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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.