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Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect

by William Barnes. Third Collection

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TWO AN' TWO.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TWO AN' TWO.

The zun, O Jessie, while his feäce do rise
In vi'ry skies, a-sheddèn out his light
On yollow corn a-weävèn down below
His yollow glow, is gaÿ avore the zight.
By two an' two,
How goodly things do goo,
A-matchèn woone another to fulvill
The goodness ov their Meäkèr's will.
How bright the spreadèn water in the lew
Do catch the blue, a-sheenèn vrom the sky;
How true the grass do teäke the dewy bead
That it do need, while dowsty roads be dry.

63

By peäir an' peäir
Each thing's a-meäde to sheäre
The good another can bestow,
In wisdom's work down here below.
The lowest lim's o' trees do seldom grow
A-spread too low to gi'e the cows a-sheäde;
The aïr's to bear the bird, the bird's to rise;
Vor light the eyes, vor eyes the light's a-meäde
'Tis gi'e an' teäke,
An' woone vor others' seäke;
In peäirs a-workèn out their ends,
Though men be foes that should be friends.