William Barnes

William Barnes was an English poet, clergyman, and philologist of the Victorian era, renowned for his dialect poetry written in the Dorset dialect. His works capture the rural life, landscapes, and speech of his native county. Biographie ↓Plus ↓

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William Barnes

The Young that Died in Beauty

If souls should only sheen so bright In heaven as in e’thly light, An’ nothen better wer the cease, How comely still, in sheape an’ feace, Would many reach thik happy pleace, - The hopevul souls that in their prime Ha’ seem’d a-took avore their time, - The young that died in beauty. But when woone’s lim’s ha’ lost their strangth A-tweilen drough a lifetime’s langth, An’ over cheaks a-growen wold The slowly-weasten years ha’ roll’d The deep’nen wrinkle’s hollow vwold; When life is ripe, then death do call Vor less ov thought, than when do vall On young vo’ks in their beauty.

William Barnes

The Wife a-Lost

Since I noo mwore do zee your feace, Up steairs or down below, I’ll zit me in the lwonesome pleace, Where flat-bough’d beech do grow; Below the beeches’ bough, my love, Where you did never come, An’ I don’t look to meet ye now, As I do look at hwome. Since you noo mwore be at my zide, In walks in zummer het, I’ll goo alwone where mist do ride, Drough trees a-drippen wet; Below the rain-wet bough, my love, Where you did never come, An’ I don’t grieve to miss ye now, As I do grieve at hwome.

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Easter Zunday

Last Easter Jim put on his blue Frock cwoat, the vu'st time-vier new; Wi' yollow buttons all o' brass, That glitter'd in the zun lik' glass; An' pok'd 'ithin the button-hole A tutty he'd a-begg'd or stole. A span-new wes-co't, too, he wore, Wi' yellow stripes all down avore; An' tied his breeches' lags below The knee, wi' ribbon in a bow; An' drow'd his kitty-boots azide, An' put his laggens on, an' tied His shoes wi' strings two vingers wide, Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

An' after mornen church wer out He come back hwome, an' stroll'd about All down the vields, an' drough the leane, Wi' sister Kit an' cousin Jeane, A-turnen proudly to their view His yollow breast an' back o' blue. The lambs did play, the grounds wer green, The trees did bud, the zun did sheen; The lark did zing below the sky, An' roads wer all a-blown so dry, As if the zummer wer begun; An' he had sich a bit o' fun! He meade the maidens squeal an' run, Because 'twer Easter Zunday.

Zummer An' Winter

When I led by zummer streams The pride o' Lea, as naighbours thought her, While the zun, wi' evenen beams, Did cast our sheades athirt the water; Winds a-blowen, Streams a-flowen, Skies a-glowen, Tokens ov my jay zoo fleeten, Heightened it, that happy meeten.

Then, when maid an' man took pleaces, Gay in winter's Chris'mas dances, Showen in their merry feaces Kindly smiles an' glisnen glances; Stars a-winken, Day a-shrinken, Sheades a-zinken, Brought anew the happy meeten, That did meake the night too fleeten.

Biographie

William Barnes was an English poet, clergyman, and philologist, born in 1801 in Dorset. He served as a curate and later rector, and he was also a schoolmaster. He wrote much of his poetry in the Dorset dialect, which he championed as a pure form of English. His first collection, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, was published in 1844. His poems often depict the rhythms and routines of rural existence, including farming, customs, and natural cycles. Imagery in his work draws heavily from the Dorset landscape, with its fields, trees, and changing seasons. Stylistically, his verse is marked by simplicity, musicality, and a faithful rendering of local speech. His work is considered an important record of a vanishing dialect and rural way of life. He was a contemporary of Thomas Hardy, who admired his poetry. Barnes's poetry remains valued for its linguistic authenticity and its affectionate, unromanticized portrayal of country folk.

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