With a Mistake
T. Well here, then, Mister auctioneer,Be theaese the virs, I bought, out here?
A. The firs, the fir-poles, you bought? Who?'Twas furze, not firs, I sold to you.
T. I bid vor virs, and not vor vuzzen,Vor vir-poles, as I thought, two dozen.
A. Two dozen faggots, and I tookYour bidding for them. Here's the book.
T. I wont have what I didden buy.I don't want vuzzen, now. Not I.Why firs an' furze do sound the seaeme.Why don't ye gi'e a thing his neaeme?Aye, firs and furze! Why, who can tellWhich 'tis that you do meaen to zell?No, no, be kind enough to callEm virs, and vuzzen, then, that's all.
Words in this poem
- mister n.
- A trade, art, or occupation. [OF. mistier trade, office, ministry, need, F. métier trade, fr. L. ministerium service, office, ministry. See Ministry, Mystery trade.]
- auctioneer n.
- A person who sells by auction; a person whose business it is to dispose of goods or lands by public sale to the highest or best bidder.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
With a Mistake 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, With a Mistake, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/with-a-mistake.html, id L02345.
Form and metre
With a Mistake is 16 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 AA auctioneerA · hereA
- 2 AA whoA · youA
- 4 AA tookA · bookA
- 5 AABBCCDD buyA · iA · seaemeB · neaemeB · tellC · zellC · callD · allD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| T. Well here, then, Mister auctioneer, | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| Be theaese the virs, I bought, out here? | 8 | ········ |
| A. The firs, the fir-poles, you bought? Who? | 9 | ········· |
| 'Twas furze, not firs, I sold to you. | 8 | ········ |
| T. I bid vor virs, and not vor vuzzen, | 10 | ·········· |
| Vor vir-poles, as I thought, two dozen. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A. Two dozen faggots, and I took | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Your bidding for them. Here's the book. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| T. I wont have what I didden buy. | 9 | ········· |
| I don't want vuzzen, now. Not I. | 8 | ········ |
| Why firs an' furze do sound the seaeme. | 8 | ········ |
| Why don't ye gi'e a thing his neaeme? | 8 | ········ |
| Aye, firs and furze! Why, who can tell | 8 | ········ |
| Which 'tis that you do meaen to zell? | 8 | ········ |
| No, no, be kind enough to call | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Em virs, and vuzzen, then, that's all. | 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.