Vull a Man
No, I'm a man, I'm vull a man,You beaet my manhood, if you can.You'll be a man if you can teaekeAll steaetes that household life do meaeke.The love-toss'd child, a-croodlen loud,The bwoy a-screamen wild in play,The tall grown youth a-steppen proud,The father staid, the house's stay.No; I can boast if others can,I'm vull a man.
A young-cheaek'd mother's tears mid vall,When woone a-lost, not half man-tall,Vrom little hand, a-called vrom play,Do leaeve noo tool, but drop a tay,An' die avore he's father-freeTo sheaepe his life by his own plan;An' vull an angel he shall be,But here on e'th not vull a man,No; I could boast if others can,I'm vull a man.
I woonce, a child, wer father-fed,An' I've a vound my childern bread;My eaerm, a sister's trusty crook,Is now a faithvul wife's own hook;An' I've a-gone where vo'k did zend,An' gone upon my own free mind,An' of'en at my own wits' end.A-led o' God while I wer blind.No; I could boast if others canI'm vull a man.
An' still, ov all my tweil ha' won,My loven maid an' merry son,Though each in turn's a jay an' ceaere,'Ve a-had, an' still shall have, their sheaere:An' then, if God should bless their lives,Why I mid zend vrom son to sonMy life, right on drough men an' wives,As long, good now, as time do run.No; I could boast if others can,I'm vull a man.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vull a Man 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, Vull a Man, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/vull-a-man.html, id L02258.
Form and metre
Vull a Man is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 55% 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 7.6 syllables. 10% 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 AABBCDCDAA manA · canA · teaekeB · meaekeB · loudC · playD · proudC · stayD · canA · manA
- 2 --AABCBCCC vall · tall · playA · tayA · freeB · planC · beB · manC · canC · manC
- 3 AABBCDCDEE fedA · breadA · crookB · hookB · zendC · mindD · endC · blindD · canE · manE
- 4 AABBCACAAA wonA · sonA · ceaereB · sheaereB · livesC · sonA · wivesC · runA · canA · manA
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, I'm a man, I'm vull a man, | 8 | ········ |
| You beaet my manhood, if you can. | 8 | ···/···· |
| You'll be a man if you can teaeke | 8 | ········ |
| All steaetes that household life do meaeke. | 8 | ···/···· |
| The love-toss'd child, a-croodlen loud, | 8 | ········ |
| The bwoy a-screamen wild in play, | 8 | ········ |
| The tall grown youth a-steppen proud, | 8 | ········ |
| The father staid, the house's stay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No; I can boast if others can, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I'm vull a man. | 4 | ···· |
| A young-cheaek'd mother's tears mid vall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When woone a-lost, not half man-tall, | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom little hand, a-called vrom play, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Do leaeve noo tool, but drop a tay, | 8 | ········ |
| An' die avore he's father-free | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To sheaepe his life by his own plan; | 8 | ········ |
| An' vull an angel he shall be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But here on e'th not vull a man, | 8 | ········ |
| No; I could boast if others can, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I'm vull a man. | 4 | ···· |
| I woonce, a child, wer father-fed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' I've a vound my childern bread; | 8 | ········ |
| My eaerm, a sister's trusty crook, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is now a faithvul wife's own hook; | 8 | ········ |
| An' I've a-gone where vo'k did zend, | 8 | ········ |
| An' gone upon my own free mind, | 8 | ········ |
| An' of'en at my own wits' end. | 8 | ········ |
| A-led o' God while I wer blind. | 8 | ········ |
| No; I could boast if others can | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I'm vull a man. | 4 | ···· |
| An' still, ov all my tweil ha' won, | 8 | ········ |
| My loven maid an' merry son, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though each in turn's a jay an' ceaere, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Ve a-had, an' still shall have, their sheaere: | 9 | ········· |
| An' then, if God should bless their lives, | 8 | ········ |
| Why I mid zend vrom son to son | 8 | ········ |
| My life, right on drough men an' wives, | 8 | ········ |
| As long, good now, as time do run. | 8 | ········ |
| No; I could boast if others can, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I'm vull a man. | 4 | ···· |
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.