Zummer Stream
Ah! then the grassy-meaeded MayDid warm the passen year, an' gleamUpon the yellow-grounded stream,That still by beech-tree sheaedes do stray.The light o' weaeves, a-runnen there,Did play on leaves up over head,An' vishes sceaely zides did gleaere,A-darten on the shallow bed,An' like the stream a-sliden on,My zun out-measur'd time's agone.
There by the path, in grass knee-high,Wer buttervlees in giddy flight,All white above the deaeisies white,Or blue below the deep blue sky.Then glowen warm wer ev'ry brow,O' maid, or man, in zummer het,An' warm did glow the cheaeks I metThat time, noo mwore to meet em now.As brooks, a-sliden on their bed,My season-measur'd time's a-vled.
Vrom yonder window, in the thatch,Did sound the maidens' merry words,As I did stand, by zingen birds,Bezide the elem-sheaeded hatch.'Tis good to come back to the pleaece,Back to the time, to goo noo mwore;'Tis good to meet the younger feaeceA-menten others here avore.As streams do glide by green mead-grass,My zummer-brighten'd years do pass.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Zummer Stream 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 Stream, 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-stream.html, id L02285.
Form and metre
Zummer Stream is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 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 ABBA-C-C-- mayA · gleamB · streamB · strayA · there · headC · gleaere · bedC · on · agone
- 2 ABBACDDC-- highA · flightB · whiteB · skyA · browC · hetD · metD · nowC · bed · vled
- 3 ABBACDCDEE thatchA · wordsB · birdsB · hatchA · pleaeceC · mworeD · feaeceC · avoreD · grassE · passE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ah! then the grassy-meaeded May | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Did warm the passen year, an' gleam | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the yellow-grounded stream, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That still by beech-tree sheaedes do stray. | 8 | ········ |
| The light o' weaeves, a-runnen there, | 8 | ········ |
| Did play on leaves up over head, | 8 | ········ |
| An' vishes sceaely zides did gleaere, | 8 | ········ |
| A-darten on the shallow bed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' like the stream a-sliden on, | 8 | ········ |
| My zun out-measur'd time's agone. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| There by the path, in grass knee-high, | 8 | ········ |
| Wer buttervlees in giddy flight, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All white above the deaeisies white, | 7 | ······· |
| Or blue below the deep blue sky. | 8 | ········ |
| Then glowen warm wer ev'ry brow, | 8 | ········ |
| O' maid, or man, in zummer het, | 8 | ········ |
| An' warm did glow the cheaeks I met | 8 | ········ |
| That time, noo mwore to meet em now. | 8 | ········ |
| As brooks, a-sliden on their bed, | 8 | ········ |
| My season-measur'd time's a-vled. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Vrom yonder window, in the thatch, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Did sound the maidens' merry words, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As I did stand, by zingen birds, | 8 | ········ |
| Bezide the elem-sheaeded hatch. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis good to come back to the pleaece, | 8 | ········ |
| Back to the time, to goo noo mwore; | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis good to meet the younger feaece | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-menten others here avore. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As streams do glide by green mead-grass, | 8 | ········ |
| My zummer-brighten'd years do pass. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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