The Flood in Spring
Last night below the elem in the lewBright the sky did gleamOn water blue, while air did softly blowOn the flowen stream,An' there wer gil'cups' buds untwold,An' deaeisies that begun to vwoldTheir low-stemm'd blossoms vrom my zightAgeaen the night, an' evenen's cwold.
But, oh! so cwold below the darksome cloudSoon the night-wind roar'd,Wi' rainy storms that zent the zwollen streamsOver ev'ry vword.The while the drippen tow'r did tellThe hour, wi' storm-be-smother'd bell,An' over ev'ry flower's budRoll'd on the flood, 'ithin the dell.
But when the zun arose, an' lik' a rwoseShone the mornen sky;An' roun' the woak, the wind a-blowen weak,Softly whiver'd by.Though drown'd wer still the deaisy bedBelow the flood, its feaece insteadO' flow'ry grown', below our shoesShow'd feaeirest views o' skies o'er head.
An' zoo to try if all our faith is trueJay mid end in tears,An' hope, woonce feaeir, mid sadden into fear,Here in e'thly years.But He that tried our soul do knowTo meaeke us good amends, an' showInstead o' things a-took away,Some higher jay that He'll bestow.
Words in this poem
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
- sadden v. t.
- To make sad. Specifically: (a) To render heavy or cohesive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Flood in Spring 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 Flood in Spring, 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-flood-in-spring.html, id L02265.
Form and metre
The Flood in Spring is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 50% 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 -A-ABB-B lew · gleamA · blow · streamA · untwoldB · vwoldB · zight · cwoldB
- 2 -A-ABB-B cloud · roar'dA · streams · vwordA · tellB · bellB · bud · dellB
- 3 -A-ABB-B rwose · skyA · weak · byA · bedB · insteadB · shoes · headB
- 4 -A-ABB-B true · tearsA · fear · yearsA · knowB · showB · away · bestowB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Last night below the elem in the lew | 10 | ·········· |
| Bright the sky did gleam | 5 | ····· |
| On water blue, while air did softly blow | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| On the flowen stream, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| An' there wer gil'cups' buds untwold, | 8 | ········ |
| An' deaeisies that begun to vwold | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Their low-stemm'd blossoms vrom my zight | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ageaen the night, an' evenen's cwold. | 9 | ········· |
| But, oh! so cwold below the darksome cloud | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Soon the night-wind roar'd, | 5 | ····· |
| Wi' rainy storms that zent the zwollen streams | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Over ev'ry vword. | 5 | ····· |
| The while the drippen tow'r did tell | 8 | ········ |
| The hour, wi' storm-be-smother'd bell, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| An' over ev'ry flower's bud | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Roll'd on the flood, 'ithin the dell. | 8 | ········ |
| But when the zun arose, an' lik' a rwose | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Shone the mornen sky; | 5 | ····· |
| An' roun' the woak, the wind a-blowen weak, | 10 | ·········· |
| Softly whiver'd by. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Though drown'd wer still the deaisy bed | 8 | ········ |
| Below the flood, its feaece instead | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O' flow'ry grown', below our shoes | 8 | ······/· |
| Show'd feaeirest views o' skies o'er head. | 8 | ········ |
| An' zoo to try if all our faith is true | 10 | ······/··· |
| Jay mid end in tears, | 5 | ····· |
| An' hope, woonce feaeir, mid sadden into fear, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Here in e'thly years. | 5 | ····· |
| But He that tried our soul do know | 8 | ····/··· |
| To meaeke us good amends, an' show | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Instead o' things a-took away, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Some higher jay that He'll bestow. | 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.