Poem by William Barnes

Second Collection. Light or Sheäde

A Maÿtide’s evenèn wer a-dyèn,
Under moonsheen, into night,
Wi’ a streamèn wind a-sighèn
By the thorns a-bloomèn white.
Where in sheäde, a-zinkèn deeply,
Wer a nook, all dark but lew,
By a bank, arisèn steeply,
Not to let the win’ come drough.

Should my love goo out, a-showèn
All her smiles, in open light;
Or, in lewth, wi’ wind a-blowèn,
Staÿ in darkness, dim to zight?
Staÿ in sheäde o’ bank or wallèn.
In the warmth, if not in light;
Words alwone vrom her a-vallèn,
Would be jaÿ vor all the night.

1. Third Collection. Shaftesbury Feäir
2. Third Collection. Comen Hwome
3. Second Collection. Childhood
4. Third Collection. Tweil
5. Second Collection. The Slantèn light o’ Fall

Print

1165 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version