William Barnes

Second Collection. Childhood

Aye, at that time our days wer but vew,
An’ our lim’s wer but small, an’ a-growèn;
An’ then the feäir worold wer new,
An’ life wer all hopevul an’ gaÿ;
An’ the times o’ the sproutèn o’ leaves,
An’ the cheäk-burnèn seasons o’ mowèn,
An’ bindèn o’ red-headed sheaves,
Wer all welcome seasons o’ jaÿ.

Then the housen seem’d high, that be low,
An’ the brook did seem wide that is narrow,
An’ time, that do vlee, did goo slow,
An’ veelèns now feeble wer strong,
An’ our worold did end wi’ the neämes
Ov the Sha’sbury Hill or Bulbarrow;
An’ life did seem only the geämes
That we plaÿ’d as the days rolled along.

Then the rivers, an’ high-timber’d lands,
An’ the zilvery hills, ’ithout buyèn,
Did seem to come into our hands
Vrom others that own’d em avore;
An’ all zickness, an’ sorrow, an’ need,
Seem’d to die wi’ the wold vo’k a-dyèn,
An’ leäve us vor ever a-freed
Vrom evils our vorefathers bore.

But happy be childern the while
They have elders a-livèn to love em,
An’ teäke all the wearisome tweil
That zome hands or others mus’ do;
Like the low-headed shrubs that be warm,
In the lewth o’ the trees up above em,
A-screen’d vrom the cwold blowèn storm
That the timber avore em must rue.