Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JAY A-PASS'D, by WILLIAM BARNES



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JAY A-PASS'D, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When leaves, in evenen winds, do vlee
Last Line: When did my jaÿ all pass me by?
Subject(s): Children; Home; Jays; Mortality; Time; Childhood


When leaves, in evenèn winds, do vlee,
Where mornèn aïr did strip the tree,
The mind can waït vor boughs in spring
To cool the elem-sheäded ring.
Where orcha'd blooth's white sceäles do vall
Mid come the apple's blushèn ball.
Our hopes be new, as time do goo,
A-measur'd by the zun on high,
Avore our jaÿs do pass us by.

When ice did melt below the zun,
An' weäves along the streäm did run,
I hoped in Maÿ's bright froth to roll,
Lik' jess'my in a lily's bowl.
Or, if I lost my loose-bow'd swing,
My wrigglèn kite mid pull my string,
An' when noo ball did rise an' vall,
Zome other geäme wud still be nigh,
Avore my jaÿs all pass'd me by.

I look'd, as childhood pass'd along,
To walk, in leäter years, man-strong,
An' look'd ageän, in manhood's pride,
To manhood's sweetest chaïce, a bride:
An' then to childern, that mid come
To meäke my house a dearer hwome.
But now my mind do look behind
Vor jaÿs; an' wonder, wi' a sigh,
When 'twer my jaÿs all pass'd me by.

Wer it when, woonce, I miss'd a call
To rise, an' seem'd to have a vall?
Or when my Jeäne to my hands left
Her vew bright keys, a dolevul heft?
Or when avore the door I stood,
To watch a child a-gone vor good?
Or where zome crowd did laugh aloud;
Or when the leaves did spring, or die?
When did my jaÿ all pass me by?





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