The Scud
Aye, aye, the leaene wi' flow'ry zidesA-kept so lew, by hazzle-wrides,Wi' beds o' graegles out in bloom,Below the timber's windless gloonAn' geaete that I've a-swung,An' rod as he's a-hung,When I wer young, in Woakley Coomb.
'Twer there at feaest we all did passThe evenen on the leaenezide grass,Out where the geaete do let us drough,Below the woak-trees in the lew,In merry geaemes an' funThat meaede us skip an' run,Wi' burnen zun, an' sky o' blue.
But still there come a scud that droveThe titt'ren maidens vrom the grove;An' there a-left wer flow'ry mound,'Ithout a vaice, 'ithout a sound,Unless the air did blow,Drough ruslen leaves, an' drow,The rain drops low, upon the ground.
I linger'd there an' miss'd the naise;I linger'd there an' miss'd our jays;I miss'd woone soul beyond the rest;The maid that I do like the best.Vor where her vaice is gayAn' where her smiles do play,There's always jay vor ev'ry breast.
Vor zome vo'k out abroad ha' me'th,But nwone at hwome bezide the he'th;An' zome ha' smiles vor strangers' view;An' frowns vor kith an' kin to rue;But her sweet vaice do vall,Wi' kindly words to all,Both big an' small, the whole day drough.
An' when the evenen sky wer peaele,We heaerd the warblen nightengeaele,A-drawen out his lwonesome zong,In winden music down the drong;An' Jenny vrom her he'th,Come out, though not in me'th,But held her breath, to hear his zong.
Then, while the bird wi' oben billDid warble on, her vaice wer still;An' as she stood avore me, boundIn stillness to the flow'ry mound,"The bird's a jay to zome,"I thought, "but when he's dum,Her vaice will come, wi' sweeter sound."
Words in this poem
- windless a.
- Having no wind; calm.
- coomb n.
- A dry measure of four bushels, or half a quarter. [AS. cumb a liquid measure, perh. from LL. cumba boat, tomb of stone, fr. Gr. kumpf bowl.]
- scud v. i.
- To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something. [Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. sq. root159. See Shoot.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- warble v. t.
- To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs. [OE. werbelen, OF. werbler; of Teutonic origin; cf. G. wirbeln to turn, to warble, D. wervelen, akin to E. whirl. See Whirl.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Scud 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 Scud, 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-scud.html, id L02174.
Form and metre
The Scud is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 16% 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 AA--BB- zidesA · wridesA · bloom · gloon · swungB · hungB · coomb
- 2 AA-BCCB passA · grassA · drough · lewB · funC · runC · blueB
- 3 AABBCCB droveA · groveA · moundB · soundB · blowC · drowC · groundB
- 4 AABBCCB naiseA · jaysA · restB · bestB · gayC · playC · breastB
- 5 AABB--- me'thA · he'thA · viewB · rueB · vall · all · drough
- 6 AABBCCB peaeleA · nightengeaeleA · zongB · drongB · he'thC · me'thC · zongB
- 7 AABB--B billA · stillA · boundB · moundB · zome · dum · soundB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aye, aye, the leaene wi' flow'ry zides | 8 | ········ |
| A-kept so lew, by hazzle-wrides, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' beds o' graegles out in bloom, | 7 | ······· |
| Below the timber's windless gloon | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An' geaete that I've a-swung, | 6 | ······ |
| An' rod as he's a-hung, | 6 | ······ |
| When I wer young, in Woakley Coomb. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twer there at feaest we all did pass | 8 | ········ |
| The evenen on the leaenezide grass, | 10 | ·········· |
| Out where the geaete do let us drough, | 8 | ········ |
| Below the woak-trees in the lew, | 8 | ········ |
| In merry geaemes an' fun | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That meaede us skip an' run, | 6 | ······ |
| Wi' burnen zun, an' sky o' blue. | 8 | ········ |
| But still there come a scud that drove | 8 | ········ |
| The titt'ren maidens vrom the grove; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' there a-left wer flow'ry mound, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Ithout a vaice, 'ithout a sound, | 8 | ········ |
| Unless the air did blow, | 6 | ······ |
| Drough ruslen leaves, an' drow, | 6 | ······ |
| The rain drops low, upon the ground. | 8 | ········ |
| I linger'd there an' miss'd the naise; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I linger'd there an' miss'd our jays; | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| I miss'd woone soul beyond the rest; | 8 | ········ |
| The maid that I do like the best. | 8 | ········ |
| Vor where her vaice is gay | 6 | ······ |
| An' where her smiles do play, | 6 | ······ |
| There's always jay vor ev'ry breast. | 8 | ·/······ |
| Vor zome vo'k out abroad ha' me'th, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But nwone at hwome bezide the he'th; | 8 | ········ |
| An' zome ha' smiles vor strangers' view; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' frowns vor kith an' kin to rue; | 8 | ········ |
| But her sweet vaice do vall, | 6 | ······ |
| Wi' kindly words to all, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Both big an' small, the whole day drough. | 8 | ········ |
| An' when the evenen sky wer peaele, | 10 | ·········· |
| We heaerd the warblen nightengeaele, | 9 | ········· |
| A-drawen out his lwonesome zong, | 9 | ········· |
| In winden music down the drong; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' Jenny vrom her he'th, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Come out, though not in me'th, | 6 | ······ |
| But held her breath, to hear his zong. | 8 | ········ |
| Then, while the bird wi' oben bill | 8 | ········ |
| Did warble on, her vaice wer still; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' as she stood avore me, bound | 8 | ········ |
| In stillness to the flow'ry mound, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "The bird's a jay to zome," | 6 | ······ |
| I thought, "but when he's dum, | 6 | ······ |
| Her vaice will come, wi' sweeter sound." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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