Love
The Rwose That Deck'd Her Breast
From Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect: First Collection
Poor Jenny wer her Robert's bride
Two happy years, an' then he died;
An' zoo the wold vo'k meäde her come,
Vorseäken, to her maïden hwome.
But Jenny's merry tongue wer dum';
An' round her comely neck she wore
A murnèn kerchif, where avore
The rwose did deck her breast.
She walk'd alwone, wi' eye-balls wet,
To zee the flow'rs that she'd a-zet;
The lilies, white's her maïden frocks,
The spike, to put 'ithin her box,
Wi' columbines an' hollyhocks;
The jilliflow'r an' noddèn pink,
An' rwose that touch'd her soul to think
Ov woone that deck'd her breast.
Vor at her weddèn, just avore
Her maïden hand had yet a-wore
A wife's goold ring, wi' hangèn head
She walk'd along thik flower-bed,
Where stocks did grow, a-staïned wi' red,
An' meärygoolds did skirt the walk,
An' gather'd vrom the rwose's stalk
A bud to deck her breast.
An' then her cheäk, wi' youthvul blood
Wer bloomèn as the rwoses bud;
But now, as she wi' grief do pine,
'Tis peäle's the milk-white jessamine.
But Robert have a-left behine
A little beäby wi' his feäce,
To smile, an' nessle in the pleäce
Where the rwose did deck her breast.
Cite this poem
MLA
Barnes, William. “The Rwose That Deck'd Her Breast.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/barnes/104/.
Chicago
Barnes, William. “The Rwose That Deck'd Her Breast.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/barnes/104/.
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