Eclogue: John An' Thomas
THOMAS.
How
b'ye,
then,
John,
to-night;
an'
how
Be
times
a-waggèn
on
w'
ye
now?
I
can't
help
slackenèn
my
peäce
When
I
do
come
along
your
pleäce,
To
zee
what
crops
your
bit
o'
groun'
Do
bear
ye
all
the
zummer
roun'.
'Tis
true
you
don't
get
fruit
nor
blooth,
'Ithin
the
glassèn
houses'
lewth;
But
if
a
man
can
rear
a
crop
Where
win'
do
blow
an'
raïn
can
drop,
Do
seem
to
come,
below
your
hand,
As
fine
as
any
in
the
land.
JOHN.
Well,
there,
the
geärden
stuff
an'
flow'rs
Don't
leäve
me
many
idle
hours;
But
still,
though
I
mid
plant
or
zow,
'Tis
Woone
above
do
meäke
it
grow.
THOMAS.
Aye,
aye,
that's
true,
but
still
your
strip
O'
groun'
do
show
good
workmanship:
You've
onions
there
nine
inches
round,
An'
turmits
that
would
waïgh
a
pound;
An'
cabbage
wi'
its
hard
white
head,
An'
teäties
in
their
dousty
bed,
An'
carrots
big
an'
straïght
enough
Vor
any
show
o'
geärden
stuff;
An'
trees
ov
apples,
red-skinn'd
balls
An'
purple
plums
upon
the
walls,
An'
peas
an'
beäns;
bezides
a
store
O'
heärbs
vor
ev'ry
païn
an'
zore.
JOHN.
An'
over
hedge
the
win's
a-heärd,
A
ruslèn
drough
my
barley's
beard;
An'
swaÿen
wheat
do
overspread
Zix
ridges
in
a
sheet
o'
red;
An'
then
there's
woone
thing
I
do
call
The
girtest
handiness
ov
all:
My
ground
is
here
at
hand,
avore
My
eyes,
as
I
do
stand
at
door;
An'
zoo
I've
never
any
need
To
goo
a
mile
to
pull
a
weed.
THOMAS.
No,
sure,
a
miël
shoulden
stratch
Between
woone's
geärden
an'
woone's
hatch.
A
man
would
like
his
house
to
stand
Bezide
his
little
bit
o'
land.
JOHN.
Ees.
When
woone's
groun'
vor
geärden
stuff
Is
roun'
below
the
house's
ruf,
Then
woone
can
spend
upon
woone's
land
Odd
minutes
that
mid
lie
on
hand,
The
while,
wi'
night
a-comèn
on,
The
red
west
sky's
a-wearèn
wan;
Or
while
woone's
wife,
wi'
busy
hands,
Avore
her
vier
o'
burnèn
brands,
Do
put,
as
best
she
can
avword,
Her
bit
o'
dinner
on
the
bwoard.
An'
here,
when
I
do
teäke
my
road,
At
breakfast-time,
agwaïn
abrode,
Why,
I
can
zee
if
any
plot
O'
groun'
do
want
a
hand
or
not;
An'
bid
my
childern,
when
there's
need,
To
draw
a
reäke
or
pull
a
weed,
Or
heal
young
beäns
or
peas
in
line,
Or
tie
em
up
wi'
rods
an'
twine,
Or
peel
a
kindly
withy
white
To
hold
a
droopèn
flow'r
upright.
THOMAS.
No.
Bits
o'
time
can
zeldom
come
To
much
on
groun'
a
mile
vrom
hwome.
A
man
at
hwome
should
have
in
view
The
jobs
his
childern's
hands
can
do,
An'
groun'
abrode
mid
teäke
em
all
Beyond
their
mother's
zight
an'
call,
To
get
a
zoakèn
in
a
storm,
Or
vall,
i'
may
be,
into
harm.
JOHN.
Ees.
Geärden
groun',
as
I've
a-zed,
Is
better
near
woone's
bwoard
an'
bed.
