The Spring
When wintry weather's all a-done,An' brooks do sparkle in the zun,An' naisy-builden rooks do vleeWi' sticks toward their elem tree;When birds do zing, an' we can zeeUpon the boughs the buds o' spring,--Then I'm as happy as a king,A-vield wi' health an' zunsheen.
Vor then the cowslip's hangen flow'rA-wetted in the zunny show'r,Do grow wi' vi'lets, sweet o' smell,Bezide the wood-screen'd graegle's bell;Where drushes' aggs, wi' sky-blue shell,Do lie in mossy nest amongThe thorns, while they do zing their zongAt evenen in the zunsheen.
An' God do meaeke his win' to blowAn' rain to vall vor high an' low,An' bid his mornen zun to riseVor all alike, an' groun' an' skiesHa' colors vor the poor man's eyes:An' in our trials He is near,To hear our mwoan an' zee our tear,An' turn our clouds to zunsheen.
An' many times when I do vindThings all goo wrong, an' vo'k unkind,To zee the happy veeden herds,An' hear the zingen o' the birds,Do soothe my sorrow mwore than words;Vor I do zee that 'tis our sinDo meaeke woone's soul so dark 'ithin,When God would gi'e woone zunsheen.
Words in this poem
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spring 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 Spring, 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-spring.html, id L02035.
Form and metre
The Spring is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% 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 7.9 syllables. 31% 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 --AAABB- done · zun · vleeA · treeA · zeeA · springB · kingB · zunsheen
- 2 AABBBCC- flow'rA · show'rA · smellB · bellB · shellB · amongC · zongC · zunsheen
- 3 AABBBCC- blowA · lowA · riseB · skiesB · eyesB · nearC · tearC · zunsheen
- 4 AABBB--- vindA · unkindA · herdsB · birdsB · wordsB · sin · ithin · zunsheen
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When wintry weather's all a-done, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| An' brooks do sparkle in the zun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' naisy-builden rooks do vlee | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' sticks toward their elem tree; | 8 | ········ |
| When birds do zing, an' we can zee | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the boughs the buds o' spring,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Then I'm as happy as a king, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A-vield wi' health an' zunsheen. | 7 | ······· |
| Vor then the cowslip's hangen flow'r | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A-wetted in the zunny show'r, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Do grow wi' vi'lets, sweet o' smell, | 8 | ········ |
| Bezide the wood-screen'd graegle's bell; | 7 | ······· |
| Where drushes' aggs, wi' sky-blue shell, | 8 | ········ |
| Do lie in mossy nest among | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The thorns, while they do zing their zong | 8 | ········ |
| At evenen in the zunsheen. | 8 | ········ |
| An' God do meaeke his win' to blow | 8 | ········ |
| An' rain to vall vor high an' low, | 8 | ········ |
| An' bid his mornen zun to rise | 8 | ········ |
| Vor all alike, an' groun' an' skies | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Ha' colors vor the poor man's eyes: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' in our trials He is near, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| To hear our mwoan an' zee our tear, | 8 | ··/···/· |
| An' turn our clouds to zunsheen. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| An' many times when I do vind | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Things all goo wrong, an' vo'k unkind, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To zee the happy veeden herds, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' hear the zingen o' the birds, | 8 | ········ |
| Do soothe my sorrow mwore than words; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vor I do zee that 'tis our sin | 8 | ······/· |
| Do meaeke woone's soul so dark 'ithin, | 8 | ········ |
| When God would gi'e woone zunsheen. | 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.