The Happy Days When I Wer Young
In happy days when I wer young,An' had noo ho, an' laugh'd an' zung,The maid wer merry by her cow,An' men wer merry wi' the plough;But never talk'd, at hwome or outO' doors, o' what's a-talk'd aboutBy many now,--that to despiseThe laws o' God an' man is wise.Wi' daily health, an' daily bread,An' thatch above their shelter'd head,They velt noo fear, an' had noo spite,To keep their eyes awake at night;But slept in peace wi' God on highAn' man below, an' fit to die.
O' grassy meaed an' woody nook,An' waters o' the winden brook,That sprung below the vu'st dark skyThat rain'd, to run till seas be dry;An' hills a-stannen on while allThe works o' man do rise an' vall;An' trees the toddlen child do vindAt vu'st, an' leaeve at last behind;I wish that you could now unvwoldThe peace an' jaey o' times o' wold;An' tell, when death do still my tongue,O' happy days when I wer young.Vrom where wer all this venom brought,To kill our hope an' taint our thought?Clear brook! thy water coulden bringSuch venom vrom thy rocky spring;Nor could it come in zummer blights,Or reaeven storms o' winter nights,Or in the cloud an' viry strokeO' thunder that do split the woak.
O valley dear! I wish that I'D a-liv'd in former times, to dieWi' all the happy souls that trodThy turf in peaece, an' died to God;Or gone wi' them that laugh'd an' zungIn happy days when I wer young!
Words in this poem
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Happy Days When I Wer Young 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 Happy Days When I Wer Young, 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-happy-days-when-i-wer-young.html, id L02102.
Form and metre
The Happy Days When I Wer Young is 40 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. 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 8.0 syllables. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG youngA · zungA · cowB · ploughB · outC · aboutC · despiseD · wiseD · breadE · headE · spiteF · nightF · highG · dieG
- 2 AABB--CCDDEEFFGG--HH nookA · brookA · skyB · dryB · all · vall · vindC · behindC · unvwoldD · woldD · tongueE · youngE · broughtF · thoughtF · bringG · springG · blights · nights · strokeH · woakH
- 3 AABBCC iA · dieA · trodB · godB · zungC · youngC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In happy days when I wer young, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' had noo ho, an' laugh'd an' zung, | 8 | ········ |
| The maid wer merry by her cow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' men wer merry wi' the plough; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But never talk'd, at hwome or out | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O' doors, o' what's a-talk'd about | 8 | ········ |
| By many now,--that to despise | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The laws o' God an' man is wise. | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' daily health, an' daily bread, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' thatch above their shelter'd head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They velt noo fear, an' had noo spite, | 8 | ········ |
| To keep their eyes awake at night; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But slept in peace wi' God on high | 8 | ········ |
| An' man below, an' fit to die. | 8 | ········ |
| O' grassy meaed an' woody nook, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' waters o' the winden brook, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That sprung below the vu'st dark sky | 8 | ········ |
| That rain'd, to run till seas be dry; | 8 | ········ |
| An' hills a-stannen on while all | 8 | ········ |
| The works o' man do rise an' vall; | 8 | ········ |
| An' trees the toddlen child do vind | 8 | ········ |
| At vu'st, an' leaeve at last behind; | 8 | ········ |
| I wish that you could now unvwold | 8 | ········ |
| The peace an' jaey o' times o' wold; | 8 | ········ |
| An' tell, when death do still my tongue, | 8 | ········ |
| O' happy days when I wer young. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Vrom where wer all this venom brought, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To kill our hope an' taint our thought? | 8 | ··/···/· |
| Clear brook! thy water coulden bring | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Such venom vrom thy rocky spring; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor could it come in zummer blights, | 8 | ········ |
| Or reaeven storms o' winter nights, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or in the cloud an' viry stroke | 8 | ········ |
| O' thunder that do split the woak. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O valley dear! I wish that I | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'D a-liv'd in former times, to die | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Wi' all the happy souls that trod | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy turf in peaece, an' died to God; | 8 | ········ |
| Or gone wi' them that laugh'd an' zung | 8 | ········ |
| In happy days when I wer young! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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