Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect :: :: University of Virginia Library

Oh! if my ling'rèn life should run,
Drough years a-reckon'd ten by ten,
Below the never-tirèn zun,
Till beäbes ageän be wives an' men;
An' stillest deafness should ha' bound,
My ears at last vrom ev'ry sound;
Though still my eyes in that sweet light,
Should have the zight o' sky an' ground:
Would then my steäte
In time so leäte,
Be jäy or païn, be païn or jäy?

When Zunday then, a-weänèn dim,
As theäse that now's a-clwosèn still,
Mid lose the zun's down-zinkèn rim,
In light behind the vire-bound hill;

An' when the bells' last peal's a-rung,
An' I mid zee the wold an' young
A-vlockèn by, but shoulden hear,
However near, a voot or tongue:
Mid zuch a zight,
In that soft light
Be jäy or païn, be païn or jäy?

If I should zee among em all,
In merry youth, a-glidèn by,
My son's bwold son, a-grown man-tall,
Or daughter's daughter, woman-high;
An' she mid smile wi' your good feäce,
Or she mid walk your comely peäce,
But seem, although a-chattèn loud,
So still's a cloud, in that bright pleäce:
Would youth so feäir,
A-passèn there,
Be jäy or païn, be païn or jäy?

'Tis seldom strangth or comeliness
Do leave us long. The house do show
Men's sons wi' mwore, as they ha' less,
An' daughters brisk, vor mothers slow;
A dawn do clear the night's dim sky,
Woone star do zink, an' woone goo high,
An' livèn gifts o' youth do vall,
Vrom gert to small, but never die:
An' should I view,
What God mid do,
Wi' jäy or païn, wi' païn or jäy?