Poem by William Barnes

Third Collection. The Child an’ the Mowers

O, aye! they had woone child bezide,
 An’ a finer your eyes never met,
’Twer a dear little fellow that died
 In the zummer that come wi’ such het;
By the mowers, too thoughtless in fun,
 He war then a-zent off vrom our eyes,
Vrom the light ov the dew-dryèn zun,—
 Aye! vrom days under blue-hollow’d skies.

He went out to the mowers in meäd,
 When the zun wer a-rose to his height,
An’ the men wer a-swingèn the sneäd,
 Wi’ their eärms in white sleeves, left an’ right;
An’ out there, as they rested at noon,
 O! they drench’d en vrom eäle-horns too deep,
Till his thoughts wer a-drown’d in a swoon;
 Aye! his life wer a-smother’d in sleep.

Then they laid en there-right on the ground,
 On a grass-heap, a-zweltrèn wi’ het,
Wi’ his heäir all a-wetted around
 His young feäce, wi’ the big drops o’ zweat;
In his little left palm he’d a-zet,
 Wi’ his right hand, his vore-vinger’s tip,
As for zome’hat he woulden vorget,—
 Aye! zome thought that he woulden let slip.

Then they took en in hwome to his bed,
 An’ he rose vrom his pillow noo mwore,
Vor the curls on his sleek little head
 To be blown by the wind out o’ door.
Vor he died while the häy russled grey
 On the staddle so leätely begun:
Lik’ the mown-grass a-dried by the day,—
 Aye! the zwath-flow’r’s a-killed by the zun.

1. Second Collection. The Linden on the Lawn
2. Second Collection. When Birds be Still
3. First Collection. Summer. Week’s End in Zummer, in the Wold Vo’k’s Time
4. Second Collection. The Lydlinch Bells
5. Third Collection. The Wheel Routs

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