Page:Barnes (1879) Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect (combined).djvu/439

---

An’ she, so winsome-feäir did vwold
Her comely limbs in green an’ goold,
An’ wear a rwosy wreath, wi’ studs
O’ berries green, an’ new-born buds,
A-fring’d in colours vier-bright,
Wi’ sheäpes o’ buttervlees in flight.
When Zummer went, the next ov all
Did come the sheäpe o’ brown-feäc’d Fall,
A-smilèn in a comely gown
O’ green, a-shot wi’ yellow-brown,
A-border’d wi’ a goolden stripe
O’ fringe, a-meäde o’ corn-ears ripe,
An’ up ageän her comely zide,
Upon her rounded eärm, did ride
A perty basket, all a-twin’d
O’ slender stems wi’ leaves an’ rind,
A-vill’d wi’ fruit the trees did shed,
All ripe, in purple, goold, an’ red;
An’ busy Leäbor there did come
A-zingèn zongs ov harvest hwome,
An’ red-ear’d dogs did briskly run
Roun’ cheervul Leisure wi’ his gun,
Or stan’ an’ mark, wi’ stedvast zight,
The speckled pa’tridge rise in flight.
An’ next ageän to mild-feäc’d Fall
Did come peäle Winter, last ov all,
A-bendèn down, in thoughtvul mood,
Her head ’ithin a snow-white hood
A-deck’d wi’ icy-jewels, bright
An’ cwold as twinklèn stars o’ night;
An’ there wer weary Leäbor, slack
O’ veet to keep her vrozen track,
A-lookèn off, wi’ wistful eyes,
To reefs o’ smoke, that there did rise
A-meltèn to the peäle-feac’d zun,

Above the houses’ lofty tun.