Analysis of A Neet When Aw've Nowt To Do.

John Hartley 1839 (Halifax) – 1915



Why lad, awm sewer tha'rt ommost done,
This ovvertime is killin;
'Twor allus soa sin th' world begun,
They put o' them at's willin.
Tha's ne'er a neet to call thi own, -
Tha starts furst thing o' Mundy,
An works thi fingers fair to th' booan,
Booath day an neet wol Sundy.
Aw know tha addles extra pay, -
We couldn't weel do baght it,
But if tha'rt browt hooam sick some day,
We'st ha to do withaat it.
Aw seldom get to see thi face,
Exceptin when tha'rt aitin;
Neet after neet aw caar ith' place
Wol awm fair sick o' waitin.
An when tha comes, tha'rt off to bed,
Befoor aw've chonce o' spaikin,
An th' childer luk, aw've ofttimes sed,
Like orphans when they're laikin.
Come hooam at six o'clock to-morn,
An let wark goa to hummer,
Thi face is growin white an worn: -
Tha'll nivver last all summer.
Besides ther's lots o' little jobs,
At tha can tak a hand in, -
That kist o' drawers has lost two nobs,
An th' table leg wants mendin.
Ther's th' fixin up oth' winderblind,
An th' chaymer wants whiteweshin,
Th' wall's filled wi marks o' ivvery kind, -
(Yond lads desarve a threshin.)
Aw can't shake th' carpet bi misen,
Nor lig it square an straightly; -
Th' childer mud help me nah an then,
But they ne'er do nowt reightly.
That bed o' awrs wants shakin up,
All th' flocks has stuck together,
Tha knows they all want braikin up,
Or they'll get tough as leather.
An th' coilhoil wants a coit o' lime,
Then it'll smell mich sweeter,
An th' cellar should be done this time,
It maks it soa mich leeter.
Ther's lots o' little things beside; -
All th' childer's clogs want spetchin,
Jack's hurts his toa, tha'll mak em wide,
Wi varry little stretchin.
Besides, tha raillee wants a rest,
For a neet, or maybe two,
An tha can fix theas trifles best,
Some neet when tha's nowt to do.
Awm net like some at connot feel
For others, aw assure thi:
Tha's tewd until tha'rt owt but weel;
An nowt but rest can cure thi.
Soa come hooam sooin an spend a neet,
Wi me an Jack an Freddy,
They'll think it's ivver sich a treat;
An aw'll have th' whitewesh ready.


Scheme ABAACDADEFEFGAGAHADAIJIJKBGADALAAMNMOJOJPJPJQAQARSRSMDMDTDTD
Poetic Form Etheree  (27%)
Metre 11110111 11110 111111101 111111 11011111 1111110 1111011111 1111110 1111101 1101111 11111111 1111111 11011111 1111 11011111 111111 11111111 111111 111111111 110111 11110111 11110110 1111111 111110 01111101 1111010 11111111 11110111 1111111 111111 111111111 11101 111111011 111111 111111111 111111 1111111 111111010 1111111 1111110 111110111 1101110 1111011111 111111 11110101 1111111 111101111 11101 0111101 1011101 11111101 1111111 1111111 1101011 11011111 1111111 11111101 1111110 1111101 11111110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,981
Words 393
Sentences 15
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 60
Lines Amount 60
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,516
Words per stanza (avg) 392
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:07 min read
1

John Hartley

John Hartley was an English poet who worked in the Yorkshire dialect. He wrote a great deal of prose and poetry – often of a sentimental nature – dealing with the poverty of the district. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Hartly wrote and edited the Original Illuminated Clock Almanack from 1866 to his death. Most of Hartley's works are written in dialect. Hartley wrote a number of books featuring the character "Sammywell Grimes", who has a number of adventures and suffers unfortunate mishaps. more…

All John Hartley poems | John Hartley Books

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