Dock-Leaves
The
dock-leaves
that
do
spread
so
wide
Up
yonder
zunny
bank's
green
zide,
Do
bring
to
mind
what
we
did
do
At
plaÿ
wi'
dock-leaves
years
agoo:
How
we,--when
nettles
had
a-stung
Our
little
hands,
when
we
wer
young,--
Did
rub
em
wi'
a
dock,
an'
zing
"_Out
nettl',
in
dock.
In
dock,
out
sting._"
An'
when
your
feäce,
in
zummer's
het,
Did
sheen
wi'
tricklèn
draps
o'
zweat,
How
you,
a-zot
bezide
the
bank,
Didst
toss
your
little
head,
an'
pank,
An'
teäke
a
dock-leaf
in
your
han',
An'
whisk
en
lik'
a
leädy's
fan;
While
I
did
hunt,
'ithin
your
zight,
Vor
streaky
cockle-shells
to
fight.
In
all
our
plaÿ-geämes
we
did
bruise
The
dock-leaves
wi'
our
nimble
shoes;
Bwoth
where
we
merry
chaps
did
fling
You
maïdens
in
the
orcha'd
swing,
An'
by
the
zaw-pit's
dousty
bank,
Where
we
did
taït
upon
a
plank.
--(D'ye
mind
how
woonce,
you
cou'den
zit
The
bwoard,
an'
vell
off
into
pit?)
An'
when
we
hunted
you
about
The
grassy
barken,
in
an'
out
Among
the
ricks,
your
vlèe-èn
frocks
An'
nimble
veet
did
strik'
the
docks.
An'
zoo
they
docks,
a-spread
so
wide
Up
yonder
zunny
bank's
green
zide,
Do
bring
to
mind
what
we
did
do,
Among
the
dock-leaves
years
agoo.
William Barnes
William Barnes, (born Feb. 22, 1801, Bagber, near Sturminster Newton, Dorsetshire, Eng.—died Oct. 7, 1886, Winterbourne Came, Dorsetshire), English dialect poet whose work gives a vivid picture of the life and labour of rural southwestern England and includes some moving expressions of loss and grief, such as “The Wife A-Lost” and “Woak Hill.” He was also a gifted philologist, and his linguistic theories as well as his poetry influenced two major writers, Thomas Hardy and Gerard Manley Hopkins.