Went Hwome
Upon the slope, the hedge did boundThe yield wi' blossom-whited zide,An' charlock patches, yollow-dyed,Did reach along the white-soil'd ground,An' vo'k, a-comen up vrom meaed,Brought gil'cup meal upon the shoe;Or went on where the road did leaed,Wi' smeechy doust from heel to tooe.As noon did smite, wi' burnen light,The road so white, to Meldonley.
An' I did tramp the zun-dried ground,By hedge-climb'd hills, a-spread wi' flow'rs,An' watershooten dells, an' tow'rs,By elem-trees a-hemm'd all round,To zee a vew wold friends, aboutWold Meldon, where I still ha' zome,That bid me speed as I come out,An' now ha' bid me welcome hwome,As I did goo, while skies wer blue,Vrom view to view, to Meldonley.
An' there wer timber'd knaps, that show'dCool sheaedes, vor rest, on grassy ground,An' thatch-brow'd windows, flower-bound,Where I could wish wer my abode.I pass'd the maid avore the spring,An' shepherd by the thornen tree;An' heaerd the merry drever zing,But met noo kith or kin to me,Till I come down, vrom Meldon's crownTo rufs o' brown, at Meldonley.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- 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.]
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Went Hwome 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, Went Hwome, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/went-hwome.html, id L02275.
Form and metre
Went Hwome is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 13% 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 ABBAC-C--- boundA · zideB · dyedB · groundA · meaedC · shoe · leaedC · tooe · light · meldonley
- 2 ABBACDCD-- groundA · flow'rsB · tow'rsB · roundA · aboutC · zomeD · outC · hwomeD · blue · meldonley
- 3 ABBACDCD-- show'dA · groundB · boundB · abodeA · springC · treeD · zingC · meD · crown · meldonley
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Upon the slope, the hedge did bound | 8 | ········ |
| The yield wi' blossom-whited zide, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An' charlock patches, yollow-dyed, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Did reach along the white-soil'd ground, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| An' vo'k, a-comen up vrom meaed, | 8 | ········ |
| Brought gil'cup meal upon the shoe; | 8 | ········ |
| Or went on where the road did leaed, | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' smeechy doust from heel to tooe. | 8 | ········ |
| As noon did smite, wi' burnen light, | 8 | ········ |
| The road so white, to Meldonley. | 8 | ········ |
| An' I did tramp the zun-dried ground, | 8 | ········ |
| By hedge-climb'd hills, a-spread wi' flow'rs, | 8 | ········ |
| An' watershooten dells, an' tow'rs, | 8 | ········ |
| By elem-trees a-hemm'd all round, | 8 | ········ |
| To zee a vew wold friends, about | 8 | ········ |
| Wold Meldon, where I still ha' zome, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That bid me speed as I come out, | 8 | ········ |
| An' now ha' bid me welcome hwome, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As I did goo, while skies wer blue, | 8 | ········ |
| Vrom view to view, to Meldonley. | 8 | ········ |
| An' there wer timber'd knaps, that show'd | 8 | ········ |
| Cool sheaedes, vor rest, on grassy ground, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' thatch-brow'd windows, flower-bound, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Where I could wish wer my abode. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I pass'd the maid avore the spring, | 8 | ········ |
| An' shepherd by the thornen tree; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An' heaerd the merry drever zing, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But met noo kith or kin to me, | 8 | ········ |
| Till I come down, vrom Meldon's crown | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To rufs o' brown, at Meldonley. | 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.