Treat Well Your Wife
No, no, good Meaester Collins cried,Why you've a good wife at your zide;Zoo do believe the heart is trueThat gi'ed up all bezide vor you,An' still beheaeve as you begunTo seek the love that you've a-wonWhen woonce in dewy June,In hours o' hope soft eyes did flash,Each bright below his sheaedy lash,A-glisnen to the moon.
Think how her girlhood met noo ceaereTo peaele the bloom her feaece did weaer,An' how her glossy temple prestHer pillow down, in still-feaeced rest,While sheaedes o' window bars did vallIn moonlight on the gloomy wall,In cool-air'd nights o' June;The while her lids, wi' benden streaeksO' lashes, met above her cheaeks,A-bloomen to the moon.
Think how she left her childhood's pleaece,An' only sister's long-known feaece,An' brother's jokes so much a-miss'd,An' mother's cheaek, the last a-kiss'd;An' how she lighted down avoreHer new abode, a husband's door,Your wedden night in June;Wi' heart that beaet wi' hope an' fear,While on each eye-lash hung a tear,A-glisnen to the moon.
Think how her father zot all dum',A-thinken on her, back at hwome,The while grey axan gather'd thick,On dyen embers, on the brick;An' how her mother look'd abrode,Drough window, down the moon-bright road,Thik cloudless night o' June,Wi' tears upon her lashes bigAs rain-drops on a slender twig,A-glisnen to the moon.
Zoo don't zit thoughtless at your cupAn' keep your wife a-waeiten up,The while the clock's a-ticken slowThe chilly hours o' vrost an' snow,Until the zinken candle's lightIs out avore her drowsy sight,A-dimm'd wi' grief too soon;A-leaeven there alwone to murnThe feaeden cheaek that woonce did burn,A-bloomen to the moon.
Words in this poem
- girlhood n.
- State or time of being a girl.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Treat Well Your Wife 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, Treat Well Your Wife, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/treat-well-your-wife.html, id L02294.
Form and metre
Treat Well Your Wife is 50 lines in 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDEED, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. 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 7.6 syllables. 26% 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 AABBCCDEED criedA · zideA · trueB · youB · begunC · wonC · juneD · flashE · lashE · moonD
- 2 AABB--CDDC ceaereA · weaerA · prestB · restB · vall · wall · juneC · streaeksD · cheaeksD · moonC
- 3 AABBCCDEED pleaeceA · feaeceA · miss'dB · kiss'dB · avoreC · doorC · juneD · fearE · tearE · moonD
- 4 --AABBCDDC dum · hwome · thickA · brickA · abrodeB · roadB · juneC · bigD · twigD · moonC
- 5 AABBCCDEED cupA · upA · slowB · snowB · lightC · sightC · soonD · murnE · burnE · moonD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No, no, good Meaester Collins cried, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Why you've a good wife at your zide; | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo do believe the heart is true | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| That gi'ed up all bezide vor you, | 8 | ········ |
| An' still beheaeve as you begun | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To seek the love that you've a-won | 8 | ········ |
| When woonce in dewy June, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In hours o' hope soft eyes did flash, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Each bright below his sheaedy lash, | 8 | ········ |
| A-glisnen to the moon. | 6 | ······ |
| Think how her girlhood met noo ceaere | 8 | ···/···· |
| To peaele the bloom her feaece did weaer, | 9 | ········· |
| An' how her glossy temple prest | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her pillow down, in still-feaeced rest, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While sheaedes o' window bars did vall | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In moonlight on the gloomy wall, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| In cool-air'd nights o' June; | 6 | ······ |
| The while her lids, wi' benden streaeks | 8 | ········ |
| O' lashes, met above her cheaeks, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A-bloomen to the moon. | 6 | ······ |
| Think how she left her childhood's pleaece, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| An' only sister's long-known feaece, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| An' brother's jokes so much a-miss'd, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' mother's cheaek, the last a-kiss'd; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' how she lighted down avore | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her new abode, a husband's door, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Your wedden night in June; | 6 | ······ |
| Wi' heart that beaet wi' hope an' fear, | 8 | ········ |
| While on each eye-lash hung a tear, | 8 | ········ |
| A-glisnen to the moon. | 6 | ······ |
| Think how her father zot all dum', | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A-thinken on her, back at hwome, | 8 | ········ |
| The while grey axan gather'd thick, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On dyen embers, on the brick; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' how her mother look'd abrode, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drough window, down the moon-bright road, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thik cloudless night o' June, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Wi' tears upon her lashes big | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As rain-drops on a slender twig, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-glisnen to the moon. | 6 | ······ |
| Zoo don't zit thoughtless at your cup | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' keep your wife a-waeiten up, | 8 | ········ |
| The while the clock's a-ticken slow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The chilly hours o' vrost an' snow, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Until the zinken candle's light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is out avore her drowsy sight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-dimm'd wi' grief too soon; | 6 | ······ |
| A-leaeven there alwone to murn | 8 | ········ |
| The feaeden cheaek that woonce did burn, | 8 | ········ |
| A-bloomen to the moon. | 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.