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Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect

by William Barnes. Third Collection

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THE WHEEL ROUTS.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

THE WHEEL ROUTS.

'Tis true I brought noo fortune hwome
Wi' Jenny, vor her honey-moon,
But still a goodish hansel come
Behind her pretty soon,
Vor stick, an' dish, an' spoon, all vell
To Jeäne, vrom Aunt o' Camwy dell.

73

Zoo all the lot o' stuff a-tied
Upon the plow, a tidy tod,
On gravel-crunchèn wheels did ride,
Wi' ho'ses, iron-shod,
That, as their heads did nod, my whip
Did guide along wi' lightsome flip.
An' there it rod 'ithin the rwope,
Astraïn'd athirt, an' straïn'd along,
Down Thornhay's evenèn-lighted slope
An' up the beech-tree drong;
Where wheels a-bound so strong, cut out
On either zide a deep-zunk rout.
An' when at Fall the trees wer brown,
Above the bennet-bearèn land,
Where beech leaves slowly whiver'd down,
By evenèn winds a-fann'd;
The routs wer each a band o' red,
A-vill'd by drifted beech-leaves dead.
An' when, in winter's leafless light,
The keener eastern wind did blow,
An' scatter down, avore my zight,
A chilly cwoat o' snow;
The routs ageän did show vull bright,
In two long streaks o' glitt'rèn white.
But when, upon our weddèn night,
The cart's light wheels, a-rollèn round,
Brought Jenny hwome, they run too light
To mark the yieldèn ground;

74

Or welcome would be vound a peäir
O' green-vill'd routs a-runnèn there.
Zoo let me never bring 'ithin
My dwellèn what's a-won by wrong,
An' can't come in 'ithout a sin;
Vor only zee how long
The waggon marks in drong, did show
Wi' leaves, wi' grass, wi' groun', wi' snow.