Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by William Barnes. First Collection. Fourth Edition |
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VELLEN THE TREE. |
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 | Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect |  |
VELLEN THE TREE.
Aye, the gre't elem tree out in little hwome groun'
Wer a-stannèn this mornen, an' now's a-cut down.
Aye, the gre't elem tree, so big roun' an' so high,
Where the mowers did goo to their drink, an' did lie
In the sheäde ov his head, when the zun at his heighth
Had a-drove em vrom mowèn, wi' het an' wi' drîth,
Where the haÿ-meäkers put all their picks an' their reäkes
An' did squot down to snabble their cheese an' their ceäkes
An' did vill vrom their flaggons their cups wi' their eäle,
An' did meäke theirzelves merry wi' joke an' wi' teäle,
Wer a-stannèn this mornen, an' now's a-cut down.
Aye, the gre't elem tree, so big roun' an' so high,
Where the mowers did goo to their drink, an' did lie
In the sheäde ov his head, when the zun at his heighth
Had a-drove em vrom mowèn, wi' het an' wi' drîth,
Where the haÿ-meäkers put all their picks an' their reäkes
An' did squot down to snabble their cheese an' their ceäkes
An' did vill vrom their flaggons their cups wi' their eäle,
An' did meäke theirzelves merry wi' joke an' wi' teäle,
Ees, we took up a rwope an' we tied en all round
At the top o'n, wi' woone end a-hangèn to ground,
An' we cut, near the ground, his gre't stem a'most drough,
An' we bent the wold head o'n wi' woone tug or two;
An' he swaÿ'd all his limbs, an' he nodded his head,
Till he vell away down like a pillar o' lead:
An' as we did run vrom en, there, clwose at our backs,
Oh! his boughs come to groun' wi' sich whizzes an' cracks;
An' his top wer so lofty that, now's a-vell down,
The stem o'n do reach a-most over the groun'.
Zoo the gre't elem tree out in little hwome groun'
Wer a-stannèn this mornen, an' now's a-cut down.
At the top o'n, wi' woone end a-hangèn to ground,
An' we cut, near the ground, his gre't stem a'most drough,
An' we bent the wold head o'n wi' woone tug or two;
An' he swaÿ'd all his limbs, an' he nodded his head,
Till he vell away down like a pillar o' lead:
An' as we did run vrom en, there, clwose at our backs,
Oh! his boughs come to groun' wi' sich whizzes an' cracks;
An' his top wer so lofty that, now's a-vell down,
The stem o'n do reach a-most over the groun'.
Zoo the gre't elem tree out in little hwome groun'
Wer a-stannèn this mornen, an' now's a-cut down.
| Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect | |