The Water Crowvoot
O' small-feaec'd flow'r that now dost bloomTo stud wi' white the shallow Frome,An' leaeve the clote to spread his flow'rOn darksome pools o' stwoneless Stour,When sof'ly-rizen airs do coolThe water in the sheenen pool,Thy beds o' snow-white buds do gleamSo feaeir upon the sky-blue stream,As whitest clouds, a-hangen highAvore the blueness o' the sky;An' there, at hand, the thin-heaeir'd cows,In airy sheaedes o' withy boughs,Or up bezide the mossy rails,Do stan' an' zwing their heavy tails,The while the ripplen stream do flowBelow the dousty bridge's bow;An' quiv'ren water-gleams do mockThe weaeves, upon the sheaeded rock;An' up athirt the copen stwoneThe laitren bwoy do leaen alwone,A-watchen, wi' a stedvast look,The vallen waters in the brook,The while the zand o' time do runAn' leaeve his errand still undone.An' oh! as long's thy buds would gleamAbove the softly-sliden stream,While sparklen zummer-brooks do runBelow the lofty-climen zun,I only wish that thou could'st stayVor noo man's harm, an' all men's jay.But no, the waterman 'ull weaedeThy water wi' his deadly bleaede,To slay thee even in thy bloom,Fair small-feaeced flower o' the Frome.
Words in this poem
- clote n.
- The common burdock; the clotbur. Wyclif. [AS. cl: cf. G. klette.]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- stour n.
- A battle or tumult; encounter; combat; disturbance; passion. [OF. estour, estor, tumult, combat, of Teutonic origin. See Storm.]
- blueness n.
- The quality of being blue; a blue color. Boyle.
- withy n.
- The osier willow (Salix viminalis). See Osier, n. (a). [OE. withe, wipi, AS. wi a willow, willow twig; akin to G. weide willow, OHG. wida, Icel. vi, a withy, Sw. vide a willow twig, Dan. vidie a willow, osier, Gr. vi]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- waterman n.
- A man who plies for hire on rivers, lakes, or canals, or in harbors, in distinction from a seaman who is engaged on the high seas; a man who manages fresh-water craft; a boatman; a ferryman.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Water Crowvoot 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 Water Crowvoot, 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-water-crowvoot.html, id L02199.
Form and metre
The Water Crowvoot is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 38% 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 ----AABBCCDDEE--FFGGHHIIJJI-KKLL-- bloom · frome · flow'r · stour · coolA · poolA · gleamB · streamB · highC · skyC · cowsD · boughsD · railsE · tailsE · flow · bow · mockF · rockF · stwoneG · alwoneG · lookH · brookH · runI · undoneI · gleamJ · streamJ · runI · zun · stayK · jayK · weaedeL · bleaedeL · bloom · frome
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O' small-feaec'd flow'r that now dost bloom | 8 | ········ |
| To stud wi' white the shallow Frome, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' leaeve the clote to spread his flow'r | 8 | ········ |
| On darksome pools o' stwoneless Stour, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| When sof'ly-rizen airs do cool | 8 | ········ |
| The water in the sheenen pool, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy beds o' snow-white buds do gleam | 8 | ········ |
| So feaeir upon the sky-blue stream, | 8 | ········ |
| As whitest clouds, a-hangen high | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Avore the blueness o' the sky; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' there, at hand, the thin-heaeir'd cows, | 8 | ········ |
| In airy sheaedes o' withy boughs, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or up bezide the mossy rails, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do stan' an' zwing their heavy tails, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The while the ripplen stream do flow | 8 | ········ |
| Below the dousty bridge's bow; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' quiv'ren water-gleams do mock | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The weaeves, upon the sheaeded rock; | 8 | ········ |
| An' up athirt the copen stwone | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The laitren bwoy do leaen alwone, | 8 | ········ |
| A-watchen, wi' a stedvast look, | 8 | ········ |
| The vallen waters in the brook, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The while the zand o' time do run | 8 | ········ |
| An' leaeve his errand still undone. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| An' oh! as long's thy buds would gleam | 8 | ········ |
| Above the softly-sliden stream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While sparklen zummer-brooks do run | 8 | ········ |
| Below the lofty-climen zun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I only wish that thou could'st stay | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Vor noo man's harm, an' all men's jay. | 8 | ········ |
| But no, the waterman 'ull weaede | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Thy water wi' his deadly bleaede, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To slay thee even in thy bloom, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fair small-feaeced flower o' the Frome. | 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.