The Vaices That Be Gone
When evenen sheaedes o' trees do hideA body by the hedge's zide,An' twitt'ren birds, wi' playsome flight,Do vlee to roost at comen night,Then I do saunter out o' zightIn orcha'd, where the pleaece woonce rungWi' laughs a-laugh'd an' zongs a-zungBy vaices that be gone.
There's still the tree that bore our swing,An' others where the birds did zing;But long-leav'd docks do overgrowThe groun' we trampled heaere below,Wi' merry skippens to an' froBezide the banks, where Jim did zitA-playen o' the clarinitTo vaices that be gone.
How mother, when we us'd to stunHer head wi' all our naisy fun,Did wish us all a-gone vrom hwome:An' now that zome be dead, an' zomeA-gone, an' all the pleaece is dum',How she do wish, wi' useless tears,To have ageaen about her earsThe vaices that be gone.
Vor all the maidens an' the bwoysBut I, be marri'd off all woys,Or dead an' gone; but I do bideAt hwome, alwone, at mother's zide,An' often, at the evenen-tide,I still do saunter out, wi' tears,Down drough the orcha'd, where my earsDo miss the vaices gone.
Words in this poem
- playsome a.
- Playful; wanton; sportive. R. Browning.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- overgrow v. t.
- To grow over; to cover with growth or herbage, esp. that which is rank.
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Vaices That Be Gone 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 Vaices That Be Gone, 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-vaices-that-be-gone.html, id L02137.
Form and metre
The Vaices That Be Gone 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 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 44% 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 AABBBCC- hideA · zideA · flightB · nightB · zightB · rungC · zungC · gone
- 2 AABBBCC- swingA · zingA · overgrowB · belowB · froB · zitC · clarinitC · gone
- 3 AABB-CC- stunA · funA · hwomeB · zomeB · dum · tearsC · earsC · gone
- 4 AABBBCC- bwoysA · woysA · bideB · zideB · tideB · tearsC · earsC · gone
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 evenen sheaedes o' trees do hide | 9 | ········· |
| A body by the hedge's zide, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' twitt'ren birds, wi' playsome flight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do vlee to roost at comen night, | 8 | ········ |
| Then I do saunter out o' zight | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In orcha'd, where the pleaece woonce rung | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' laughs a-laugh'd an' zongs a-zung | 8 | ········ |
| By vaices that be gone. | 6 | ······ |
| There's still the tree that bore our swing, | 8 | ······/· |
| An' others where the birds did zing; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But long-leav'd docks do overgrow | 8 | ········ |
| The groun' we trampled heaere below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wi' merry skippens to an' fro | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bezide the banks, where Jim did zit | 8 | ········ |
| A-playen o' the clarinit | 7 | ······· |
| To vaices that be gone. | 6 | ······ |
| How mother, when we us'd to stun | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her head wi' all our naisy fun, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Did wish us all a-gone vrom hwome: | 8 | ········ |
| An' now that zome be dead, an' zome | 8 | ········ |
| A-gone, an' all the pleaece is dum', | 8 | ········ |
| How she do wish, wi' useless tears, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To have ageaen about her ears | 8 | ········ |
| The vaices that be gone. | 6 | ······ |
| Vor all the maidens an' the bwoys | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But I, be marri'd off all woys, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or dead an' gone; but I do bide | 8 | ········ |
| At hwome, alwone, at mother's zide, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' often, at the evenen-tide, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I still do saunter out, wi' tears, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Down drough the orcha'd, where my ears | 8 | ········ |
| Do miss the vaices gone. | 6 | ······ |
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.