To Me
At night, as drough the meaed I took my way,In air a-sweeten'd by the new-meaede hay,A stream a-vallen down a rock did sound,Though out o' zight wer foam an' stwone to me.
Behind the knap, above the gloomy copse,The wind did russle in the trees' high tops,Though evenen darkness, an' the risen hill,Kept all the quiv'ren leaves unshown to me,
Within the copse, below the zunless sky,I heaerd a nightengeaele, a-warblen highHer lwoansome zong, a-hidden vrom my zight,An' showen nothen but her mwoan to me.
An' by a house, where rwoses hung avoreThe thatch-brow'd window, an' the oben door,I heaerd the merry words, an' hearty laughO' zome feaeir maid, as eet unknown to me.
High over head the white-rimm'd clouds went on,Wi' woone a-comen up, vor woone a-gone;An' feaeir they floated in their sky-back'd flight,But still they never meaede a sound to me.
An' there the miller, down the stream did floatWi' all his childern, in his white-sail'd bwoat,Vur off, beyond the stragglen cows in meaed,But zent noo vaice, athirt the ground, to me.
An' then a buttervlee, in zultry light,A-wheelen on about me, vier-bright,Did show the gayest colors to my eye,But still did bring noo vaice around to me.
I met the merry laugher on the down,Bezide her mother, on the path to town,An' oh! her sheaepe wer comely to the zight,But wordless then wer she a-vound to me.
Zoo, sweet ov unzeen things mid be sound,An' feaeir to zight mid soundless things be vound,But I've the laugh to hear, an' feaece to zee,Vor they be now my own, a-bound to me.
Words in this poem
- knap v. t.
- To bite; to bite off; to break short. [D. knappen to chew, bite, crack, take hold of; prob. of imitative origin.]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- laugher n.
- One who laughs.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Me 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, To Me, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/to-me.html, id L02306.
Form and metre
To Me is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, 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 9.9 syllables. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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-- wayA · hayA · sound · me
- 2 AA-- copseA · topsA · hill · me
- 3 AA-A skyA · highA · zight · meA
- 4 AA-- avoreA · doorA · laugh · me
- 5 AA-- onA · goneA · flight · me
- 6 AA-- floatA · bwoatA · meaed · me
- 7 AABB lightA · brightA · eyeB · meB
- 8 AA-- downA · townA · zight · me
- 9 AABB soundA · voundA · zeeB · meB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| At night, as drough the meaed I took my way, | 10 | ·········· |
| In air a-sweeten'd by the new-meaede hay, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A stream a-vallen down a rock did sound, | 10 | ·········· |
| Though out o' zight wer foam an' stwone to me. | 10 | ·········· |
| Behind the knap, above the gloomy copse, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The wind did russle in the trees' high tops, | 10 | ·········· |
| Though evenen darkness, an' the risen hill, | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Kept all the quiv'ren leaves unshown to me, | 10 | ·········· |
| Within the copse, below the zunless sky, | 10 | ·········· |
| I heaerd a nightengeaele, a-warblen high | 11 | ··········· |
| Her lwoansome zong, a-hidden vrom my zight, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| An' showen nothen but her mwoan to me. | 10 | ·········· |
| An' by a house, where rwoses hung avore | 10 | ·········· |
| The thatch-brow'd window, an' the oben door, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I heaerd the merry words, an' hearty laugh | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O' zome feaeir maid, as eet unknown to me. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| High over head the white-rimm'd clouds went on, | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' woone a-comen up, vor woone a-gone; | 10 | ·········· |
| An' feaeir they floated in their sky-back'd flight, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But still they never meaede a sound to me. | 9 | ···/····· |
| An' there the miller, down the stream did float | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Wi' all his childern, in his white-sail'd bwoat, | 10 | ·········· |
| Vur off, beyond the stragglen cows in meaed, | 10 | ·········· |
| But zent noo vaice, athirt the ground, to me. | 10 | ·········· |
| An' then a buttervlee, in zultry light, | 10 | ·········· |
| A-wheelen on about me, vier-bright, | 9 | ········· |
| Did show the gayest colors to my eye, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| But still did bring noo vaice around to me. | 10 | ·········· |
| I met the merry laugher on the down, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Bezide her mother, on the path to town, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| An' oh! her sheaepe wer comely to the zight, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But wordless then wer she a-vound to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Zoo, sweet ov unzeen things mid be sound, | 9 | ········· |
| An' feaeir to zight mid soundless things be vound, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But I've the laugh to hear, an' feaece to zee, | 10 | ·········· |
| Vor they be now my own, a-bound to me. | 10 | ·········· |
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.