The Sky A-Clearen
The dreven scud that overcastThe zummer sky is all a-past,An' softer air, a-blowen droughThe quiv'ren boughs, do sheaeke the vewLast rain drops off the leaves lik' dew;An' peaeviers, now a-getten dry,Do steam below the zunny skyThat's now so vast a-cleaeren.
The sheaedes that wer a-lost belowThe stormy cloud, ageaen do showTheir mocken sheaepes below the light;An' house-walls be a-looken white,An' vo'k do stir woonce mwore in zight,An' busy birds upon the wingDo whiver roun' the boughs an' zing,To zee the sky a-clearen.
Below the hill's an ash; belowThe ash, white elder-flow'rs do blow:Below the elder is a bedO' robinhoods o' blushen red;An' there, wi' nunches all a-spread,The hay-meaekers, wi' each a cupO' drink, do smile to zee hold upThe rain, an' sky a-cleaeren.
'Mid blushen maidens, wi' their zong,Still draw their white-stemm'd reaekes amongThe long-back'd weaeles an' new-meaede pooks,By brown-stemm'd trees an' cloty brooks;But have noo call to spweil their looksBy work, that God could never meaekeTheir weaker han's to underteaeke,Though skies mid be a-cleaeren.
'Tis wrong vor women's han's to clipsThe zull an' reap-hook, speaedes an' whips;An' men abroad, should leaeve, by right,Woone faithful heart at hwome to lightTheir bit o' vier up at night,An' hang upon the hedge to dryTheir snow-white linen, when the skyIn winter is a-cleaeren.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- overcast v. t.
- To cast or cover over; hence, to cloud; to darken.
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sky A-Clearen 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 Sky A-Clearen, 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-sky-a-clearen.html, id L02070.
Form and metre
The Sky A-Clearen is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. 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 7.8 syllables. 45% 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 AA---BB- overcastA · pastA · drough · vew · dew · dryB · skyB · cleaeren
- 2 AABBBCC- belowA · showA · lightB · whiteB · zightB · wingC · zingC · clearen
- 3 AABBBCC- belowA · blowA · bedB · redB · spreadB · cupC · upC · cleaeren
- 4 AABBBCC- zongA · amongA · pooksB · brooksB · looksB · meaekeC · underteaekeC · cleaeren
- 5 AABBBCC- clipsA · whipsA · rightB · lightB · nightB · dryC · skyC · cleaeren
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 dreven scud that overcast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The zummer sky is all a-past, | 8 | ········ |
| An' softer air, a-blowen drough | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The quiv'ren boughs, do sheaeke the vew | 8 | ········ |
| Last rain drops off the leaves lik' dew; | 8 | ········ |
| An' peaeviers, now a-getten dry, | 8 | ········ |
| Do steam below the zunny sky | 8 | ········ |
| That's now so vast a-cleaeren. | 7 | ······· |
| The sheaedes that wer a-lost below | 8 | ········ |
| The stormy cloud, ageaen do show | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their mocken sheaepes below the light; | 8 | ········ |
| An' house-walls be a-looken white, | 8 | ········ |
| An' vo'k do stir woonce mwore in zight, | 8 | ········ |
| An' busy birds upon the wing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Do whiver roun' the boughs an' zing, | 8 | ········ |
| To zee the sky a-clearen. | 7 | ······· |
| Below the hill's an ash; below | 8 | ········ |
| The ash, white elder-flow'rs do blow: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Below the elder is a bed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O' robinhoods o' blushen red; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' there, wi' nunches all a-spread, | 8 | ········ |
| The hay-meaekers, wi' each a cup | 8 | ········ |
| O' drink, do smile to zee hold up | 8 | ········ |
| The rain, an' sky a-cleaeren. | 7 | ······· |
| 'Mid blushen maidens, wi' their zong, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still draw their white-stemm'd reaekes among | 8 | ········ |
| The long-back'd weaeles an' new-meaede pooks, | 8 | ········ |
| By brown-stemm'd trees an' cloty brooks; | 8 | ········ |
| But have noo call to spweil their looks | 8 | ········ |
| By work, that God could never meaeke | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their weaker han's to underteaeke, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Though skies mid be a-cleaeren. | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis wrong vor women's han's to clips | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The zull an' reap-hook, speaedes an' whips; | 8 | ········ |
| An' men abroad, should leaeve, by right, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Woone faithful heart at hwome to light | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their bit o' vier up at night, | 7 | ······· |
| An' hang upon the hedge to dry | 8 | ········ |
| Their snow-white linen, when the sky | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In winter is a-cleaeren. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.