Tokens
Green mwold on zummer bars do showThat they've a-dripp'd in Winter wet;The hoof-worn ring o' groun' belowThe tree, do tell o' storms or het;The trees in rank along a ledgeDo show where woonce did bloom a hedge;An' where the vurrow-marks do stripeThe down, the wheat woonce rustled ripe.Each mark ov things a-gone vrom view--To eyezight's woone, to soulzight two.
The grass ageaen the mwoldren door'S a token sad o' vo'k a-gone,An' where the house, bwoth wall an' vloor,'S a-lost, the well mid linger on.What tokens, then, could Meaery gi'eThaet she'd a-liv'd, an' liv'd vor me,But things a-done vor thought an' view?Good things that nwone ageaen can do,An' every work her love ha' wrought,To eyezight's woone, but two to thought.
About this text
Tokens 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, Tokens, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/tokens.html, id L02310.
Form and metre
Tokens is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCCDDEE showA · wetB · belowA · hetB · ledgeC · hedgeC · stripeD · ripeD · viewE · twoE
- 2 ABAB--CCDD doorA · goneB · vloorA · onB · gi'e · me · viewC · doC · wroughtD · thoughtD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Green mwold on zummer bars do show | 8 | ········ |
| That they've a-dripp'd in Winter wet; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The hoof-worn ring o' groun' below | 8 | ········ |
| The tree, do tell o' storms or het; | 8 | ········ |
| The trees in rank along a ledge | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Do show where woonce did bloom a hedge; | 8 | ········ |
| An' where the vurrow-marks do stripe | 8 | ········ |
| The down, the wheat woonce rustled ripe. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Each mark ov things a-gone vrom view-- | 8 | ········ |
| To eyezight's woone, to soulzight two. | 8 | ········ |
| The grass ageaen the mwoldren door | 8 | ········ |
| 'S a token sad o' vo'k a-gone, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| An' where the house, bwoth wall an' vloor, | 8 | ········ |
| 'S a-lost, the well mid linger on. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| What tokens, then, could Meaery gi'e | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thaet she'd a-liv'd, an' liv'd vor me, | 8 | ········ |
| But things a-done vor thought an' view? | 8 | ········ |
| Good things that nwone ageaen can do, | 8 | ········ |
| An' every work her love ha' wrought, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To eyezight's woone, but two to thought. | 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.