The Maid Vor My Bride
Ah! don't tell o' maidens! the woone vor my brideIs little lik' too many maidens bezide,--Not branten, nor spitevul, nor wild; she've a mindTo think o' what's right, an' a heart to be kind.
She's straight an' she's slender, but not over tall,Wi' lim's that be lightsome, but not over small;The goodness o' heaven do breathe in her feaece,An' a queen, to be steaetely, must walk wi' her peaece.
Her frocks be a-meaede all becomen an' plain,An' cleaen as a blossom undimm'd by a stain;Her bonnet ha' got but two ribbons, a-tiedUp under her chin, or let down at the zide.
When she do speak to woone, she don't steaere an' grin;There's sense in her looks, vrom her eyes to her chin,An' her words be so kind, an' her speech is so meek,As her eyes do look down a-beginnen to speak.
Her skin is so white as a lily, an' eachOv her cheaeks is so downy an' red as a peach;She's pretty a-zitten; but oh! how my loveDo watch her to madness when woonce she do move.
An' when she do walk hwome vrom church drough the groun',Wi' woone eaerm in mine, an' wi' woone a-hung down,I do think, an' do veel mwore o' sheaeme than o' pride,That do meaeke me look ugly to walk by her zide.
Zoo don't talk o' maiden's! the woone vor my brideIs but little lik' too many maidens bezide,--Not branten, nor spitevul, nor wild; she've a mindTo think o' what's right, an' a heart to be kind.
Words in this poem
- lightsome a.
- Having light; lighted; not dark or gloomy; bright.
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Maid Vor My Bride 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 Maid Vor My Bride, 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-maid-vor-my-bride.html, id L02122.
Form and metre
The Maid Vor My Bride is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABB brideA · bezideA · mindB · kindB
- 2 AABB tallA · smallA · feaeceB · peaeceB
- 3 AABB plainA · stainA · tiedB · zideB
- 4 AABB grinA · chinA · meekB · speakB
- 5 AABB eachA · peachA · loveB · moveB
- 6 --AA groun · down · prideA · zideA
- 7 AABB brideA · bezideA · mindB · kindB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ah! don't tell o' maidens! the woone vor my bride | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Is little lik' too many maidens bezide,-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Not branten, nor spitevul, nor wild; she've a mind | 12 | ············ |
| To think o' what's right, an' a heart to be kind. | 11 | ··········· |
| She's straight an' she's slender, but not over tall, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Wi' lim's that be lightsome, but not over small; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The goodness o' heaven do breathe in her feaece, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| An' a queen, to be steaetely, must walk wi' her peaece. | 13 | ············· |
| Her frocks be a-meaede all becomen an' plain, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' cleaen as a blossom undimm'd by a stain; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Her bonnet ha' got but two ribbons, a-tied | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Up under her chin, or let down at the zide. | 11 | ··········· |
| When she do speak to woone, she don't steaere an' grin; | 11 | ··········· |
| There's sense in her looks, vrom her eyes to her chin, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' her words be so kind, an' her speech is so meek, | 12 | ············ |
| As her eyes do look down a-beginnen to speak. | 12 | ············ |
| Her skin is so white as a lily, an' each | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Ov her cheaeks is so downy an' red as a peach; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| She's pretty a-zitten; but oh! how my love | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Do watch her to madness when woonce she do move. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| An' when she do walk hwome vrom church drough the groun', | 11 | ··········· |
| Wi' woone eaerm in mine, an' wi' woone a-hung down, | 11 | ··········· |
| I do think, an' do veel mwore o' sheaeme than o' pride, | 12 | ············ |
| That do meaeke me look ugly to walk by her zide. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Zoo don't talk o' maiden's! the woone vor my bride | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Is but little lik' too many maidens bezide,-- | 11 | ··/˘··//˘·· |
| Not branten, nor spitevul, nor wild; she've a mind | 12 | ············ |
| To think o' what's right, an' a heart to be kind. | 11 | ··········· |
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.