Poem by William Barnes

Third Collection. Lizzie

O Lizzie is so mild o’ mind,
 Vor ever kind, an’ ever true;
A-smilèn, while her lids do rise
 To show her eyes as bright as dew.
An’ comely do she look at night,
A-dancèn in her skirt o’ white,
An’ blushèn wi’ a rwose o’ red
Bezide her glossy head.

Feäir is the rwose o’ blushèn hue,
 Behung wi’ dew, in mornèn’s hour,
Feäir is the rwose, so sweet below
 The noontide glow, bezide the bow’r.
Vull feäir, an’ eet I’d rather zee
The rwose a-gather’d off the tree,
An’ bloomèn still with blossom red,
By Lizzie’s glossy head.

Mid peace droughout her e’thly day,
 Betide her waÿ, to happy rest,
An’ mid she, all her weanèn life,
 Or maïd or wife, be loved and blest.
Though I mid never zing anew
To neäme the maïd so feäir an’ true,
A-blushèn, wi’ a rwose o’ red,
Bezide her glossy head.

1. First Collection. Sundry Pieces. The Common a-took in
2. Third Collection. The New House a-gettèn Wold
3. Second Collection. The Wold vo’k Dead
4. Third Collection. Went vrom Hwome
5. First Collection. Summer. Bees a-Zwarmèn

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