Third Collection. Two an’ Two
The zun, O Jessie, while his feäce do rise In vi’ry skies, a-sheddèn out his light On yollow corn a-weävèn down below His yollow glow, is gaÿ avore the zight. By two an’ two, How goodly things do goo, A-matchèn woone another to fulvill The goodness ov their Meäkfèr’s will. How bright the spreadèn water in the lew Do catch the blue, a-sheenèn vrom the sky; How true the grass do teäke the dewy bead That it do need, while dousty roads be dry. By peäir an’ peäir Each thing’s a-meäde to sheäre The good another can bestow, In wisdom’s work down here below. The lowest lim’s o’ trees do seldom grow A-spread too low to gi’e the cows a sheäde; The aïr’s to bear the bird, the bird’s to rise; Vor light the eyes, vor eyes the light’s a-meäde. ’Tis gi’e an’ teäke, An’ woone vor others’ seäke; In peäirs a-workèn out their ends, Though men be foes that should be friends.
William Barnes’s other poems:
