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by William Barnes (1801 - 1886)

The Winter's Willow
Language: English 
There Liddy zot bezide her cow, 
  Upon her lowly seat, O;
A hood did overhang her brow,
  Her païl wer at her veet, O;
An' she wer kind, an' she wer feäir,
An' she wer young, an' free o' ceäre;
Vew winters had a-blow'd her heäir,
  Bezide the Winter's Willow.

She idden woone a-rear'd in town
  Where many a gayer lass, O,
Do trip a-smilèn up an' down,
  So peäle wi' smoke an' gas, O;
But here in vields o' greäzèn herds,
Her väice ha' mingled sweetest words
Wi' evenèn cheärms o' busy birds,
  Bezide the Winter's Willow.

An' when, at last, wi' beätèn breast,
  I knock'd avore her door, O,
She ax'd me in to teäke the best
  O' pleäces on the vloor, O;
An' smilèn feäir avore my zight,
She blush'd bezide the yollovv light
O' bleäzen brands, while winds o' night
  Do sheäke the Winter's Willow.

An' if there's readship in her smile,
  She don't begrudge to speäre, O,
To zomebody a little while,
  The empty woaken chair, O;
An' if I've luck upon my zide,
Why, I do think she'll be my bride
Avore the leaves ha' twice a-died
  Upon the Winter's Willow.

Above the coach-wheels rollèn rims
  She never rose to ride, O,
Though she do zet her comely lim's
  Above the mare's white zide, O;
But don't become too proud to stoop 
An' scrub her milkèn pail's white hoop,
Or zit a-milkèn where do droop,
  The wet-stemm'd Winter's Willow.

An' I've a cow or two in leäze,
  Along the river-zide, O,
An' pails to zet avore her knees,
  At dawn an' evenèn-tide, O;
An' there she still mid zit, an' look
Athirt upon the woody nook
Where vu'st I zeed her by the brook
  Bezide the Winter's Willow.

Zoo, who would heed the treeless down,
  A-beät by all the storms, O,
Or who would heed the busy town
  Where vo'k do goo in zwarms, O;
If he wer in my house below
The elems, where the vier did glow
In Liddy's feäce, though winds did blow
  Ageän the Winter's Willow. 

Text Authorship:

  • by William Barnes (1801 - 1886), "The Winter's Willow", appears in Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The Winter's Willow", 1903?, published 1903 [ voice and piano ], first appeared in the November 1903 Vocalist, reissued in 1914, London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-10-26
Line count: 56
Word count: 346

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