Poem by William Barnes

Second Collection. Hallowed Pleäces

At Woodcombe farm, wi’ ground an’ tree
Hallow’d by times o’ youthvul glee,
At Chris’mas time I spent a night
Wi’ feäces dearest to my zight;
An’ took my wife to tread, woonce mwore,
Her maïden hwome’s vorseäken vloor,
An’ under stars that slowly wheel’d
Aloft, above the keen-aïr’d vield,
While night bedimm’d the rus’lèn copse,
An’ darken’d all the ridges’ tops,
The hall, a-hung wi’ holly, rung
Wi’ many a tongue o’ wold an’ young.

There, on the he’th’s well-hetted ground,
Hallow’d by times o’ zittèn round,
The brimvul mug o’ cider stood
An’ hiss’d avore the bleäzèn wood;
An’ zome, a-zittèn knee by knee,
Did tell their teäles wi’ hearty glee,
An’ others gamboll’d in a roar
O’ laughter on the stwonèn vloor;
An’ while the moss o’ winter-tide
Clung chilly roun’ the house’s zide,
The hall, a-hung wi’ holly, rung
Wi’ many a tongue o’ wold an’ young.

There, on the pworches bench o’ stwone,
Hallow’d by times o’ youthvul fun,
We laugh’d an’ sigh’d to think o’ neämes
That rung there woonce, in evenèn geämes;
An’ while the swaÿèn cypress bow’d,
In chilly wind, his darksome sh’oud
An’ honeyzuckles, beäre o’ leäves,
Still reach’d the window-sheädèn eaves
Up where the clematis did trim
The stwonèn arches mossy rim,
The hall, a-hung wi’ holly, rung
Wi’ many a tongue o’ wold an’ young.

There, in the geärden’s wall-bound square,
Hallow’d by times o’ strollèn there,
The winter wind, a-hufflèn loud,
Did swaÿ the pear-tree’s leafless sh’oud,
An’ beät the bush that woonce did bear
The damask rwose vor Jenny’s heäir;
An’ there the walk o’ peävèn stwone
That burn’d below the zummer zun.
Struck icy-cwold drough shoes a-wore
By maïdens vrom the hetted vloor
In hall, a-hung wi’ holm, where rung
Vull many a tongue o’ wold an’ young.

There at the geäte that woonce wer blue
Hallow’d by times o’ passèn drough,
Light strawmotes rose in flaggèn flight,
A-floated by the winds o’ night,
Where leafy ivy-stems did crawl
In moonlight on the windblown wall,
An’ merry maïdens’ vaïces vied
In echoes sh’ill, vrom wall to shed,
As shiv’rèn in their frocks o’ white
They come to bid us there “Good night,”
Vrom hall, a-hung wi’ holm, that rung
Wi’ many a tongue o’ wold an’ young.

There in the narrow leäne an’ drong
Hallow’d by times o’ gwaïn along,
The lofty ashes’ leafless sh’ouds
Rose dark avore the clear-edged clouds,
The while the moon, at girtest height,
Bespread the pooly brook wi’ light,
An’ as our child, in loose-limb’d rest,
Lay peäle upon her mother’s breast,
Her waxen eyelids seal’d her eyes
Vrom darksome trees, an’ sheenèn skies,
An’ halls a-hung wi’ holm, that rung
Wi’ many a tongue, o’ wold an’ young.

1. Second Collection. The Linden on the Lawn
2. Second Collection. When Birds be Still
3. Third Collection. Went vrom Hwome
4. Third Collection. Changes
5. First Collection. Summer. Week’s End in Zummer, in the Wold Vo’k’s Time

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