Analysis of The Turnstile

William Barnes 1801 (Bagber) – 1886



Ah! sad wer we as we did peace
the wold church road, wi' downcast feace,
the while the bells, that mwoaned so deep
above our child a-left asleep,
wer now a-zingen all alive
wi' t'other bells to meake the vive.
But up at woone pleace we come by,
t'wer hard to keep woone's two eyes dry-
on Stean-cliff road, 'ithin the drong,
up where, as vo'k do pass along,
the turnen stile, a-painted white,
do sheen by day an' show by night.
Vor always there, as we did goo
to church, thik stile did let us drough,
wi' spreaden arms that wheeled to guide
us each in turn to t'other zide.
An' vu'st ov all the train he took
my wife, wi' winsome gait an' look:
An' then zent on my little maid,
a-skippen onward, overjay'd
to reach agean the pleace o' pride,
her comely mother's left han' zide.
An' then, a-wheelen roun', he took
on me, 'ithin his third white nook.
An' in the fourth, a sheaken wild,
he zent us on our giddy child.
But eesterday he guided slow
my downcast Jenny, vull o' woe,
an' then my little maid in black,
a-walken softly on her track.
An' after he'd a-turned agean
to let me goo along the leane,
he had noo little bwoy to vill
his last white earms, an' they stood still.


Scheme AABBCDEEFFGGFCHGFFIGHGFFJJKKFFLLKM
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 0111111 01011111 011010101 1101101 111011101 11111111 11111111 1111101 111111101 0110101 11111111 1111111 11111111 1111111 110111101 111110111 11110111 11111101 01101 1110111 01010111 1101111 1111111 1001011 111110101 111101 1110111 11110101 01010101 1101011 11110101 11110111 11111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,150
Words 228
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 34
Lines Amount 34
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 875
Words per stanza (avg) 226
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 07, 2023

1:11 min read
106

William Barnes

William Barnes, Barne, Barneis or Berners, of Thoby, Essex, was an English politician. more…

All William Barnes poems | William Barnes Books

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