My Polly

John Hartley 1839 (Halifax) – 1915



My Polly's varry bonny,
Her een are black an breet;
They shine under her raven locks,
Like stars i'th' dark o'th' neet.

Her little cheeks are like a peach,
'At th' sun has woo'd an missed;
Her lips like cherries, red an sweet,
Seem moulded to be kissed.

Her breast is like a drift o' snow,
Her little waist's soa thin,
To clasp it wi' a careless arm
Wod ommost be a sin.

Her little hands an tiny feet,
Wod mak yo think shoo'd been
Browt up wi' little fairy fowk
To be a fairy queen.

An when shoo laffs, it saands as if
A little crystal spring,
Wor bubblin up throo silver rocks,
Screened by an angel's wing.

It saands soa sweet, an yet soa low,
One feels it forms a part
Ov what yo love, an yo can hear
Its echoes in yor heart.

It isn't likely aw shall win,
An wed soa rich a prize;
But ther's noa tellin what strange things
Man may do, if he tries.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
103

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XAAA CDXD ADEX XEBE CAXA DFXF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 830
Words 173
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

John Hartley

John Hartley was an English poet who worked in the Yorkshire dialect. He wrote a great deal of prose and poetry – often of a sentimental nature – dealing with the poverty of the district. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Hartly wrote and edited the Original Illuminated Clock Almanack from 1866 to his death. Most of Hartley's works are written in dialect. Hartley wrote a number of books featuring the character "Sammywell Grimes", who has a number of adventures and suffers unfortunate mishaps. more…

All John Hartley poems | John Hartley Books

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