Second Collection. I know Who
Aye, aye, vull rathe the zun mus’ rise To meäke us tired o’ zunny skies, A-sheenèn on the whole day drough, From mornèn’s dawn till evenèn’s dew. When trees be brown an’ meäds be green, An’ skies be blue, an’ streams do sheen, An’ thin-edg’d clouds be snowy white Above the bluest hills in zight; But I can let the daylight goo, When I’ve a-met wi’—I know who. In Spring I met her by a bed O’ laurels higher than her head; The while a rwose hung white between Her blushes an’ the laurel’s green; An’ then in Fall, I went along The row of elems in the drong, An’ heärd her zing bezide the cows, By yollow leaves o’ meäple boughs; But Fall or Spring is feäir to view When day do bring me—I know who. An’ when, wi’ wint’r a-comèn roun’, The purple he’th’s a-feädèn brown, An’ hangèn vern’s a-sheäkèn dead, Bezide the hill’s besheäded head: An’ black-wing’d rooks do glitter bright Above my head, in peäler light; Then though the birds do still the glee That sounded in the zummer tree, My heart is light the winter drough, In me’th at night, wi’—I know who.
William Barnes’s other poems:
