Tweil
The rick ov our last zummer's haulenNow vrom grey's a-feaeded dark,An' off the barken rail's a-vallen,Day by day, the rotten bark.--But short's the time our works do stand,So feaeir's we put em out ov hand,Vor time a-passen, wet an' dry,Do spweil em wi' his changen sky,The while wi' striven hope, we men,Though a-ruen time's undoen,Still do tweil an' tweil ageaen.
In wall-zide sheaedes, by leafy bowers,Underneath the swayen tree,O' leaete, as round the bloomen flowers,Lowly humm'd the giddy bee,My childern's small left voot did smiteTheir tiny speaede, the while the rightDid trample on a deaeisy head,Bezide the flower's dousty bed,An' though their work wer idle then,They a-smilen, an' a-tweilen,Still did work an' work ageaen.
Now their little limbs be stronger,Deeper now their vaice do sound;An' their little veet be longer,An' do tread on other ground;An' rust is on the little bleaedesOv all the broken-hafted speaedes,An' flow'rs that wer my hope an' prideHa' long agoo a-bloom'd an' died,But still as I did leaebor thenVor love ov all them childern small,Zoo now I'll tweil an' tweil ageaen.
When the smokeless tun's a-growenCwold as dew below the stars,An' when the vier noo mwore's a-glowenRed between the window bars,We then do lay our weary headsIn peace upon their nightly beds,An' gi'e woone sock, wi' heaven breast,An' then breathe soft the breath o' rest,Till day do call the sons o' menVrom night-sleep's blackness, vull o' sprackness,Out abroad to tweil ageaen.
Where the vaice o' the winds is mildest,In the plain, their stroke is keen;Where their dreatnen vaice is wildest,In the grove, the grove's our screen.An' where the worold in their strifeDo dreaten mwost our tweilsome life,Why there Almighty ceaere mid castA better screen ageaen the blast.Zoo I woon't live in fear o' men,But, man-neglected, God-directed,Still wull tweil an' tweil ageaen.
Words in this poem
- barken a.
- Made of bark. Whittier.
- smokeless a.
- Making or having no smoke.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- sock n.
- A plowshare. Edin. Encyc. [F. soc, LL. soccus, perhaps of Celtic origin.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tweil 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, Tweil, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/tweil.html, id L02311.
Form and metre
Tweil is 55 lines in 5 stanzas of 11 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% 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 ABABCCDD--- haulenA · darkB · vallenA · barkB · standC · handC · dryD · skyD · men · undoen · ageaen
- 2 ABABCCDD--- bowersA · treeB · flowersA · beeB · smiteC · rightC · headD · bedD · then · tweilen · ageaen
- 3 ABABCCDD--- strongerA · soundB · longerA · groundB · bleaedesC · speaedesC · prideD · diedD · then · small · ageaen
- 4 ABABCCDD--- growenA · starsB · glowenA · barsB · headsC · bedsC · breastD · restD · men · sprackness · ageaen
- 5 -ABACCBB--- mildest · keenA · wildestB · screenA · strifeC · lifeC · castB · blastB · men · directed · ageaen
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 rick ov our last zummer's haulen | 9 | ···/····· |
| Now vrom grey's a-feaeded dark, | 7 | ······· |
| An' off the barken rail's a-vallen, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Day by day, the rotten bark.-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But short's the time our works do stand, | 8 | ····/··· |
| So feaeir's we put em out ov hand, | 8 | ········ |
| Vor time a-passen, wet an' dry, | 8 | ········ |
| Do spweil em wi' his changen sky, | 8 | ········ |
| The while wi' striven hope, we men, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though a-ruen time's undoen, | 6 | ······ |
| Still do tweil an' tweil ageaen. | 7 | ······· |
| In wall-zide sheaedes, by leafy bowers, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Underneath the swayen tree, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| O' leaete, as round the bloomen flowers, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Lowly humm'd the giddy bee, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| My childern's small left voot did smite | 8 | ········ |
| Their tiny speaede, the while the right | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Did trample on a deaeisy head, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bezide the flower's dousty bed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' though their work wer idle then, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They a-smilen, an' a-tweilen, | 8 | ········ |
| Still did work an' work ageaen. | 7 | ······· |
| Now their little limbs be stronger, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Deeper now their vaice do sound; | 7 | /˘····· |
| An' their little veet be longer, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| An' do tread on other ground; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| An' rust is on the little bleaedes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ov all the broken-hafted speaedes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An' flow'rs that wer my hope an' pride | 8 | ········ |
| Ha' long agoo a-bloom'd an' died, | 8 | ········ |
| But still as I did leaebor then | 8 | ········ |
| Vor love ov all them childern small, | 8 | ········ |
| Zoo now I'll tweil an' tweil ageaen. | 8 | ········ |
| When the smokeless tun's a-growen | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Cwold as dew below the stars, | 7 | ······· |
| An' when the vier noo mwore's a-glowen | 9 | ········· |
| Red between the window bars, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| We then do lay our weary heads | 8 | ····//˘· |
| In peace upon their nightly beds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' gi'e woone sock, wi' heaven breast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' then breathe soft the breath o' rest, | 8 | ········ |
| Till day do call the sons o' men | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom night-sleep's blackness, vull o' sprackness, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Out abroad to tweil ageaen. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Where the vaice o' the winds is mildest, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In the plain, their stroke is keen; | 7 | ······· |
| Where their dreatnen vaice is wildest, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the grove, the grove's our screen. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' where the worold in their strife | 8 | ········ |
| Do dreaten mwost our tweilsome life, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Why there Almighty ceaere mid cast | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A better screen ageaen the blast. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Zoo I woon't live in fear o' men, | 8 | ········ |
| But, man-neglected, God-directed, | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Still wull tweil an' tweil ageaen. | 8 | ········ |
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