Zummer an' Winter
When I led by zummer streamsThe pride o' Lea, as naighbours thought her,While the zun, wi' evenen beams,Did cast our sheaedes athirt the water;Winds a-blowen,Streams a-flowen,Skies a-glowen,Tokens ov my jay zoo fleeten,Heighten'd it, that happy meeten.
Then, when maid an' man took pleaeces,Gay in winter's Chris'mas dances,Showen in their merry feaecesKindly smiles an' glisnen glances;Stars a-winken,Day a-shrinken,Sheaedes a-zinken,Brought anew the happy meeten,That did meake the night too fleeten.
Words in this poem
- blowen n.
- A prostitute; a courtesan; a strumpet. [Low] Smart.
- fleeten n.
- Fleeted or skimmed milk. Fleeten face, a face of the color of fleeten, i. e., blanched; hence, a coward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Zummer an' Winter 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, Zummer an' Winter, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/zummer-an-winter.html, id L02305.
Form and metre
Zummer an' Winter is 18 lines in 2 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 A-A-BBBCC streamsA · her · beamsA · water · blowenB · flowenB · glowenB · fleetenC · meetenC
- 2 ABABCCCDD pleaecesA · dancesB · feaecesA · glancesB · winkenC · shrinkenC · zinkenC · meetenD · fleetenD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I led by zummer streams | 7 | ······· |
| The pride o' Lea, as naighbours thought her, | 9 | ········· |
| While the zun, wi' evenen beams, | 8 | ········ |
| Did cast our sheaedes athirt the water; | 9 | ··/····/˘ |
| Winds a-blowen, | 4 | ···· |
| Streams a-flowen, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Skies a-glowen, | 4 | ···· |
| Tokens ov my jay zoo fleeten, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Heighten'd it, that happy meeten. | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Then, when maid an' man took pleaeces, | 8 | ········ |
| Gay in winter's Chris'mas dances, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Showen in their merry feaeces | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Kindly smiles an' glisnen glances; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Stars a-winken, | 4 | ···· |
| Day a-shrinken, | 4 | ···· |
| Sheaedes a-zinken, | 4 | ···· |
| Brought anew the happy meeten, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| That did meake the night too fleeten. | 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.