William Barnes

Second Collection. The Thorns in the Geäte

Ah! Meäster Collins overtook
Our knot o’ vo’k a-stannèn still,
Last Zunday, up on Ivy Hill,
To zee how strong the corn did look.
An’ he staÿ’d back awhile an’ spoke
A vew kind words to all the vo’k,
Vor good or joke, an’ wi’ a smile
Begun a-plaÿèn wi’ a chile.

The zull, wi’ iron zide awry,
Had long a-vurrow’d up the vield;
The heavy roller had a-wheel’d
It smooth vor showers vrom the sky;
The bird-bwoy’s cry, a-risèn sh’ill,
An’ clacker, had a-left the hill,
All bright but still, vor time alwone
To speed the work that we’d a-done.

Down drough the wind, a-blowèn keen,
Did gleäre the nearly cloudless sky,
An’ corn in bleäde, up ancle-high,
’Ithin the geäte did quiver green;
An’ in the geäte a-lock’d there stood
A prickly row o’ thornèn wood
Vor vo’k vor food had done their best,
An’ left to Spring to do the rest.

“The geäte,” he cried, “a-seal’d wi’ thorn
Vrom harmvul veet’s a-left to hold
The bleäde a-springèn vrom the mwold,
While God do ripen it to corn.
An’ zoo in life let us vulvil
Whatever is our Meäker’s will,
An’ then bide still, wi’ peacevul breast,
While He do manage all the rest.