The Wold Waggon
The girt wold waggon uncle had,When I wer up a hardish lad,Did stand, a-screen'd vrom het an' wet,In zummer at the barken geaete,Below the elems' spreaeden boughs,A-rubb'd by all the pigs an' cows.An' I've a-clom his head an' zides,A-riggen up or jumpen downA-playen, or in happy ridesAlong the leaene or drough the groun',An' many souls be in their greaeves,That rod' together on his reaeves;An' he, an' all the hosses too,'V a-ben a-done vor years agoo.
Upon his head an' tail wer pinks,A-painted all in tangled links;His two long zides wer blue,--his bedBent slightly upward at the head;His reaeves rose upward in a bowAbove the slow hind-wheels below.Vour hosses wer a-kept to pullThe girt wold waggon when 'twer vull;The black meaere Smiler, strong enoughTo pull a house down by herzuf,
So big, as took my widest stridesTo straddle halfway down her zides;An' champen Vi'let, sprack an' light,That foam'd an' pull'd wi' all her might:An' Whitevoot, leaezy in the treaece,Wi' cunnen looks an' show-white feaece;Bezides a bay woone, short-tail Jack,That wer a treaece-hoss or a hack.
How many lwoads o' vuzz, to scaldThe milk, thik waggon have a-haul'd!An' wood vrom copse, an' poles vor rails.An' bayens wi' their bushy tails;An' loose-ear'd barley, hangen downOutzide the wheels a'most to groun',An' lwoads o' hay so sweet an' dry,A-builded straight, an' long, an' high;An' hay-meaekers, a-zitten roun'The reaeves, a-riden hwome vrom groun',When Jim gi'ed Jenny's lips a-smack,An' jealous Dicky whipp'd his back,An' maidens scream'd to veel the thumpsA-gi'ed by trenches an' by humps.But he, an' all his hosses too,'V a-ben a-done vor years agoo.
Words in this poem
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- barken a.
- Made of bark. Whittier.
- smiler n.
- One who smiles.
- straddle v. i.
- To part the legs wide; to stand or to walk with the legs far apart. [Freq. from the root of stride.]
- sprack a.
- Quick; lively' alert. [Cf. Icel. spækr sprightly, dial. Sw. spräk, spräg, spirited, mettlesome; or Gael. spraic vigor.]
- scald v. t.
- To burn with hot liquid or steam; to pain or injure by contact with, or imersion in, any hot fluid; as, to scald the hand. [OF. eschalder, eschauder, escauder, F. échauder, fr. L. excaldare; ex + caldus, calidus, warm, hot. See Ex, and Calderon.]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- dicky n.
- A seat behind a carriage, for a servant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wold Waggon 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 Wold Waggon, 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-wold-waggon.html, id L02127.
Form and metre
The Wold Waggon is 48 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 21% 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--BBC-C-DD-- hadA · ladA · wet · geaete · boughsB · cowsB · zidesC · down · ridesC · groun · greaevesD · reaevesD · too · agoo
- 2 AABBCCDD-- pinksA · linksA · bedB · headB · bowC · belowC · pullD · vullD · enough · herzuf
- 3 AABBCCDD stridesA · zidesA · lightB · mightB · treaeceC · feaeceC · jackD · hackD
- 4 AABB-CDDCCEE---- scaldA · haul'dA · railsB · tailsB · down · grounC · dryD · highD · rounC · grounC · smackE · backE · thumps · humps · too · agoo
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 girt wold waggon uncle had, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When I wer up a hardish lad, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Did stand, a-screen'd vrom het an' wet, | 8 | ········ |
| In zummer at the barken geaete, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Below the elems' spreaeden boughs, | 8 | ········ |
| A-rubb'd by all the pigs an' cows. | 8 | ········ |
| An' I've a-clom his head an' zides, | 8 | ········ |
| A-riggen up or jumpen down | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A-playen, or in happy rides | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Along the leaene or drough the groun', | 8 | ˘/······ |
| An' many souls be in their greaeves, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That rod' together on his reaeves; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| An' he, an' all the hosses too, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'V a-ben a-done vor years agoo. | 9 | ········· |
| Upon his head an' tail wer pinks, | 8 | ········ |
| A-painted all in tangled links; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His two long zides wer blue,--his bed | 8 | ········ |
| Bent slightly upward at the head; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His reaeves rose upward in a bow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Above the slow hind-wheels below. | 8 | ········ |
| Vour hosses wer a-kept to pull | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The girt wold waggon when 'twer vull; | 8 | ········ |
| The black meaere Smiler, strong enough | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To pull a house down by herzuf, | 8 | ········ |
| So big, as took my widest strides | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To straddle halfway down her zides; | 8 | ·/˘//··· |
| An' champen Vi'let, sprack an' light, | 8 | ········ |
| That foam'd an' pull'd wi' all her might: | 8 | ········ |
| An' Whitevoot, leaezy in the treaece, | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' cunnen looks an' show-white feaece; | 8 | ········ |
| Bezides a bay woone, short-tail Jack, | 8 | ········ |
| That wer a treaece-hoss or a hack. | 8 | ········ |
| How many lwoads o' vuzz, to scald | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The milk, thik waggon have a-haul'd! | 8 | ········ |
| An' wood vrom copse, an' poles vor rails. | 8 | ········ |
| An' bayens wi' their bushy tails; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| An' loose-ear'd barley, hangen down | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Outzide the wheels a'most to groun', | 8 | ········ |
| An' lwoads o' hay so sweet an' dry, | 8 | ········ |
| A-builded straight, an' long, an' high; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' hay-meaekers, a-zitten roun' | 8 | ········ |
| The reaeves, a-riden hwome vrom groun', | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When Jim gi'ed Jenny's lips a-smack, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' jealous Dicky whipp'd his back, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| An' maidens scream'd to veel the thumps | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A-gi'ed by trenches an' by humps. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But he, an' all his hosses too, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'V a-ben a-done vor years agoo. | 9 | ········· |
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