The Clote
O zummer clote! when the brook's a-glidenSo slow an' smooth down his zedgy bed,Upon thy broad leaves so seaefe a-ridenThe water's top wi' thy yollow head,By alder's heads, O,An' bulrush beds, O.Thou then dost float, goolden zummer clote!
The grey-bough'd withy's a-leaenen lowlyAbove the water thy leaves do hide;The benden bulrush, a-swayen slowly,Do skirt in zummer thy river's zide;An' perch in shoals, O,Do vill the holes, O,Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote!
Oh! when thy brook-drinken flow'r's a-blowen,The burnen zummer's a-zetten in;The time o' greenness, the time o' mowen,When in the hay-vield, wi' zunburnt skin,The vo'k do drink, O,Upon the brink, O,Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote!
Wi' eaerms a-spreaden, an' cheaeks a-blowen,How proud wer I when I vu'st could zwimAthirt the pleaece where thou bist a-growen,Wi' thy long more vrom the bottom dim;While cows, knee-high, O,In brook, wer nigh, O,Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote!
Ov all the brooks drough the meaeds a-winden,Ov all the meaeds by a river's brim,There's nwone so feaeir o' my own heart's vinden,As where the maidens do zee thee swim,An' stan' to teaeke, O,Wi' long-stemm'd reaeke, O,Thy flow'r afloat, goolden zummer clote!
Words in this poem
- clote n.
- The common burdock; the clotbur. Wyclif. [AS. cl: cf. G. klette.]
- bulrush n.
- A kind of large rush, growing in wet land or in water. [OE. bulrysche, bolroysche; of uncertain origin, perh. fr. bole stem + rush.]
- vill n.
- A small collection of houses; a village. [OF. ville, vile, a village, F. ville a town, city. See Villa.]
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- afloat adv.
- Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Clote 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 Clote, 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-clote.html, id L02072.
Form and metre
The Clote is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -A-ABB- gliden · bedA · riden · headA · oB · oB · clote
- 2 ABABCC- lowlyA · hideB · slowlyA · zideB · oC · oC · clote
- 3 -AAABB- blowen · inA · mowenA · skinA · oB · oB · clote
- 4 ABABCC- blowenA · zwimB · growenA · dimB · oC · oC · clote
- 5 ABABCC- windenA · brimB · vindenA · swimB · oC · oC · clote
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O zummer clote! when the brook's a-gliden | 10 | ········/˘ |
| So slow an' smooth down his zedgy bed, | 9 | ········· |
| Upon thy broad leaves so seaefe a-riden | 10 | ········/˘ |
| The water's top wi' thy yollow head, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| By alder's heads, O, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| An' bulrush beds, O. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Thou then dost float, goolden zummer clote! | 9 | ········· |
| The grey-bough'd withy's a-leaenen lowly | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Above the water thy leaves do hide; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The benden bulrush, a-swayen slowly, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Do skirt in zummer thy river's zide; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| An' perch in shoals, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Do vill the holes, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote! | 9 | ········· |
| Oh! when thy brook-drinken flow'r's a-blowen, | 10 | ·········· |
| The burnen zummer's a-zetten in; | 9 | ········· |
| The time o' greenness, the time o' mowen, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| When in the hay-vield, wi' zunburnt skin, | 9 | ········· |
| The vo'k do drink, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Upon the brink, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote! | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' eaerms a-spreaden, an' cheaeks a-blowen, | 10 | ·········· |
| How proud wer I when I vu'st could zwim | 9 | ········· |
| Athirt the pleaece where thou bist a-growen, | 10 | ·········· |
| Wi' thy long more vrom the bottom dim; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| While cows, knee-high, O, | 5 | ····· |
| In brook, wer nigh, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Where thou dost float, goolden zummer clote! | 9 | ········· |
| Ov all the brooks drough the meaeds a-winden, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ov all the meaeds by a river's brim, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| There's nwone so feaeir o' my own heart's vinden, | 10 | ·········· |
| As where the maidens do zee thee swim, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| An' stan' to teaeke, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Wi' long-stemm'd reaeke, O, | 5 | ····· |
| Thy flow'r afloat, goolden zummer clote! | 9 | ··˘/····· |
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.