Zummer Winds
Let me work, but mid noo tieHold me vrom the oben sky,When zummer winds, in playsome flight,Do blow on vields in noon-day light,Or ruslen trees, in twilight night.Sweet's a stroll,By flow'ry knowl, or blue-feaeced poolThat zummer win's do ruffle cool.
When the moon's broad light do villPlains, a-sheenen down the hill;A-glitteren on window glass,O then, while zummer win's do passThe rippled brook, an' swayen grass,Sweet's a walk,Where we do talk, wi' feaeces bright,In whispers in the peacevul night.
When the swayen men do mowFlow'ry grass, wi' zweepen blow,In het a-most enough to dryThe flat-spread clote-leaf that do lieUpon the stream a-stealen by,Sweet's their rest,Upon the breast o' knap or moundOut where the goocoo's vaice do sound.
Where the sleek-heaeir'd maid do zitOut o' door to zew or knit,Below the elem where the spring'S a-runnen, an' the road do bringThe people by to hear her zing,On the green,Where she's a-zeen, an' she can zee,O gay is she below the tree.
Come, O zummer wind, an' bringSounds o' birds as they do zing,An' bring the smell o' bloomen may,An' bring the smell o' new-mow'd hay;Come fan my feaece as I do stray,Fan the heaeirO' Jessie feaeir; fan her cool,By the weaeves o' stream or pool.
Words in this poem
- playsome a.
- Playful; wanton; sportive. R. Browning.
- vill n.
- A small collection of houses; a village. [OF. ville, vile, a village, F. ville a town, city. See Villa.]
- clote n.
- The common burdock; the clotbur. Wyclif. [AS. cl: cf. G. klette.]
- knap v. t.
- To bite; to bite off; to break short. [D. knappen to chew, bite, crack, take hold of; prob. of imitative origin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Zummer Winds 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 Winds, 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-winds.html, id L02280.
Form and metre
Zummer Winds is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 32% 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 AABBB-CC tieA · skyA · flightB · lightB · nightB · stroll · poolC · coolC
- 2 AABBB-CC villA · hillA · glassB · passB · grassB · walk · brightC · nightC
- 3 AABBB-CC mowA · blowA · dryB · lieB · byB · rest · moundC · soundC
- 4 --AAA-BB zit · knit · springA · bringA · zingA · green · zeeB · treeB
- 5 AABBB-CC bringA · zingA · mayB · hayB · strayB · heaeir · coolC · poolC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Let me work, but mid noo tie | 7 | ······· |
| Hold me vrom the oben sky, | 7 | ······· |
| When zummer winds, in playsome flight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do blow on vields in noon-day light, | 8 | ········ |
| Or ruslen trees, in twilight night. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Sweet's a stroll, | 3 | ··· |
| By flow'ry knowl, or blue-feaeced pool | 8 | ········ |
| That zummer win's do ruffle cool. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When the moon's broad light do vill | 7 | ······· |
| Plains, a-sheenen down the hill; | 7 | ······· |
| A-glitteren on window glass, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O then, while zummer win's do pass | 8 | ········ |
| The rippled brook, an' swayen grass, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sweet's a walk, | 3 | ··· |
| Where we do talk, wi' feaeces bright, | 8 | ········ |
| In whispers in the peacevul night. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| When the swayen men do mow | 7 | ······· |
| Flow'ry grass, wi' zweepen blow, | 7 | ······· |
| In het a-most enough to dry | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The flat-spread clote-leaf that do lie | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the stream a-stealen by, | 8 | ········ |
| Sweet's their rest, | 3 | ··· |
| Upon the breast o' knap or mound | 8 | ········ |
| Out where the goocoo's vaice do sound. | 8 | ········ |
| Where the sleek-heaeir'd maid do zit | 7 | ······· |
| Out o' door to zew or knit, | 7 | ······· |
| Below the elem where the spring | 8 | ········ |
| 'S a-runnen, an' the road do bring | 9 | ········· |
| The people by to hear her zing, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On the green, | 3 | ··· |
| Where she's a-zeen, an' she can zee, | 8 | ········ |
| O gay is she below the tree. | 8 | ········ |
| Come, O zummer wind, an' bring | 7 | ······· |
| Sounds o' birds as they do zing, | 7 | ······· |
| An' bring the smell o' bloomen may, | 8 | ········ |
| An' bring the smell o' new-mow'd hay; | 8 | ········ |
| Come fan my feaece as I do stray, | 8 | ········ |
| Fan the heaeir | 3 | ··· |
| O' Jessie feaeir; fan her cool, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| By the weaeves o' stream or pool. | 7 | ······· |
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.