Poem by William Barnes

Second Collection. Early risén

The aïr to gi’e your cheäks a hue
O’ rwosy red, so feaïr to view,
Is what do sheäke the grass-bleädes gray
At breäk o’ day, in mornèn dew;
Vor vo’k that will be rathe abrode,
Will meet wi’ health upon their road.

But bidèn up till dead o’ night,
When han’s o’ clocks do stan’ upright,
By candle-light, do soon consume
The feäce’s bloom, an’ turn it white.
An’ light a-cast vrom midnight skies
Do blunt the sparklèn ov the eyes.

Vor health do weäke vrom nightly dreams
Below the mornèn’s eärly beams,
An’ leäve the dead-aïr’d houses’ eaves,
Vor quiv’rèn leaves, an’ bubblèn streams,
A-glitt’rèn brightly to the view,
Below a sky o’ cloudless blue.

1. Second Collection. When Birds be Still
2. Second Collection. The Linden on the Lawn
3. First Collection. Summer. Week’s End in Zummer, in the Wold Vo’k’s Time
4. Second Collection. The Waggon a-stooded
5. Second Collection. Bleäke’s House

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