The Lark
As I, below the mornen sky,Wer out a worken in the lewO' black-stemm'd thorns, a-springen high,Avore the worold-bounden blue,A-reaeken, under woak tree boughs,The orts a-left behin' by cows.
Above the grey-grow'd thistle rings,An' deaeisy-buds, the lark, in flight,Did zing a-loft, wi' flappen wings,Tho' mwore in heaeren than in zight;The while my bwoys, in playvul me'th,Did run till they wer out o' breath.
Then woone, wi' han'-besheaeded eyes,A-stoppen still, as he did run,Look'd up to zee the lark ariseA-zingen to the high-gone zun;The while his brother look'd belowVor what the groun' mid have to show
Zoo woone did watch above his headThe bird his hands could never teaeke;An' woone, below, where he did tread,Vound out the nest within the breaeke;But, aggs be only woonce a-vound,An' uncaught larks ageaen mid sound.
About this text
The Lark 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 Lark, 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-lark.html, id L02260.
Form and metre
The Lark is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. 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. 21% 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 ABABCC skyA · lewB · highA · blueB · boughsC · cowsC
- 2 ABABCC ringsA · flightB · wingsA · zightB · me'thC · breathC
- 3 A-A-BB eyesA · run · ariseA · zun · belowB · showB
- 4 ABABCC headA · teaekeB · treadA · breaekeB · voundC · soundC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As I, below the mornen sky, | 8 | ········ |
| Wer out a worken in the lew | 8 | ········ |
| O' black-stemm'd thorns, a-springen high, | 8 | ········ |
| Avore the worold-bounden blue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-reaeken, under woak tree boughs, | 8 | ········ |
| The orts a-left behin' by cows. | 8 | ········ |
| Above the grey-grow'd thistle rings, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' deaeisy-buds, the lark, in flight, | 8 | ········ |
| Did zing a-loft, wi' flappen wings, | 8 | ········ |
| Tho' mwore in heaeren than in zight; | 8 | ········ |
| The while my bwoys, in playvul me'th, | 8 | ········ |
| Did run till they wer out o' breath. | 8 | ········ |
| Then woone, wi' han'-besheaeded eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| A-stoppen still, as he did run, | 8 | ········ |
| Look'd up to zee the lark arise | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A-zingen to the high-gone zun; | 8 | ········ |
| The while his brother look'd below | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vor what the groun' mid have to show | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo woone did watch above his head | 8 | ········ |
| The bird his hands could never teaeke; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' woone, below, where he did tread, | 8 | ········ |
| Vound out the nest within the breaeke; | 8 | ········ |
| But, aggs be only woonce a-vound, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' uncaught larks ageaen mid sound. | 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.