The Motherless Child
The zun'd a-zet back tother night,But in the zetten pleaeceThe clouds, a-redden'd by his light,Still glow'd avore my feaece.An' I've a-lost my Meaery's smile,I thought; but still I have her chile,Zoo like her, that my eyes can treaeceThe mother's in her daughter's feaece.O little feaece so near to me,An' like thy mother's gone; why need I zaySweet night cloud, wi' the glow o' my lost day,Thy looks be always dear to me.The zun'd a-zet another night;But, by the moon on high,He still did zend us back his lightBelow a cwolder sky.My Meaery's in a better landI thought, but still her chile's at hand,An' in her chile she'll zend me onHer love, though she herzelf's a-gone.O little chile so near to me,An' like thy mother gone; why need I zay,Sweet moon, the messenger vrom my lost day,Thy looks be always dear to me.
About this text
The Motherless Child 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 Motherless Child, 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-motherless-child.html, id L02164.
Form and metre
The Motherless Child is 24 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 ABAB--BBCDECAFAFGGHHCDEC nightA · pleaeceB · lightA · feaeceB · smile · chile · treaeceB · feaeceB · meC · zayD · dayE · meC · nightA · highF · lightA · skyF · landG · handG · onH · goneH · meC · zayD · dayE · meC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The zun'd a-zet back tother night, | 8 | ········ |
| But in the zetten pleaece | 6 | ······ |
| The clouds, a-redden'd by his light, | 8 | ········ |
| Still glow'd avore my feaece. | 6 | ······ |
| An' I've a-lost my Meaery's smile, | 8 | ········ |
| I thought; but still I have her chile, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Zoo like her, that my eyes can treaece | 8 | ········ |
| The mother's in her daughter's feaece. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O little feaece so near to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' like thy mother's gone; why need I zay | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Sweet night cloud, wi' the glow o' my lost day, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy looks be always dear to me. | 8 | ···/···· |
| The zun'd a-zet another night; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But, by the moon on high, | 6 | ······ |
| He still did zend us back his light | 8 | ········ |
| Below a cwolder sky. | 6 | ······ |
| My Meaery's in a better land | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I thought, but still her chile's at hand, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| An' in her chile she'll zend me on | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Her love, though she herzelf's a-gone. | 8 | ········ |
| O little chile so near to me, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| An' like thy mother gone; why need I zay, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Sweet moon, the messenger vrom my lost day, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Thy looks be always dear to me. | 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.