Vields in the Light
Woone's heart mid leaep wi' thoughts o' jayIn comen manhood light an' gayWhen we do teaeke the worold onVrom our vore-elders dead an' gone;But days so feaeir in hope's bright eyesDo often come wi' zunless skies:Woone's fancy can but be out-done,Where trees do sway an' brooks do run,By risen moon or zetten zun.
Vor when at evenen I do lookAll down theaese hangen on the brook,Wi' weaeves a-leaepen clear an' bright,Where boughs do sway in yollow light;Noo hills nor hollows, woods nor streams,A-voun' by day or zeed in dreams,Can ever seem so fit to beGood angel's hwomes, though they do gi'eBut pain an' tweil to such as we.
An' when by moonlight darksome sheaedesDo lie in grass wi' dewy bleaedes,An' worold-hushen night do keepThe proud an' angry vast asleep,When I can think, as I do rove,Ov only souls that I do love;Then who can dream a dream to show,Or who can think o' moons to drow,A sweeter light to rove below?
Words in this poem
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vields in the Light 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, Vields in the Light, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/vields-in-the-light.html, id L02056.
Form and metre
Vields in the Light is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, 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 8.0 syllables. 33% 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 AABBCCDD- jayA · gayA · onB · goneB · eyesC · skiesC · doneD · runD · zun
- 2 AABBCCD-D lookA · brookA · brightB · lightB · streamsC · dreamsC · beD · gi'e · weD
- 3 AABB--CCC sheaedesA · bleaedesA · keepB · asleepB · rove · love · showC · drowC · belowC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Woone's heart mid leaep wi' thoughts o' jay | 8 | ········ |
| In comen manhood light an' gay | 8 | ···/···· |
| When we do teaeke the worold on | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom our vore-elders dead an' gone; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| But days so feaeir in hope's bright eyes | 8 | ········ |
| Do often come wi' zunless skies: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Woone's fancy can but be out-done, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where trees do sway an' brooks do run, | 8 | ········ |
| By risen moon or zetten zun. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Vor when at evenen I do look | 9 | ········· |
| All down theaese hangen on the brook, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wi' weaeves a-leaepen clear an' bright, | 8 | ········ |
| Where boughs do sway in yollow light; | 8 | ········ |
| Noo hills nor hollows, woods nor streams, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A-voun' by day or zeed in dreams, | 8 | ········ |
| Can ever seem so fit to be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Good angel's hwomes, though they do gi'e | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But pain an' tweil to such as we. | 8 | ········ |
| An' when by moonlight darksome sheaedes | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Do lie in grass wi' dewy bleaedes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' worold-hushen night do keep | 8 | ········ |
| The proud an' angry vast asleep, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When I can think, as I do rove, | 8 | ········ |
| Ov only souls that I do love; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Then who can dream a dream to show, | 8 | ········ |
| Or who can think o' moons to drow, | 8 | ········ |
| A sweeter light to rove below? | 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.