A Friend to Me.

John Hartley 1839 (Halifax) – 1915



Poor Dick nah sleeps quietly, his labor is done,
Deeath shut off his steam tother day;
His engine, long active, has made its last run,
An his boiler nah falls to decay.
Maybe he'd his faults, but he'd vartues as well,
An tho' dearly he loved a gooid spree;
If he did onny harm it wor done to hissel: -
He wor allus a gooid friend to me.
  
His heart it wor tender, - his purse it wor free,
To a friend or a stranger i' need;
An noa matter ha humble or poor they might be,
At his booard they wor welcome to feed.
Wi' his pipe an his glass bi his foirside he'd sit,
Yet some fowk wi' him couldn't agree,
An tho' monny's the time 'at we've differed a bit,
He wor allus a gooid friend to me.
  
His word wor his bond, for he hated a lie,
An sickophants doubly despised;
He wor ne'er know to cringe to a rich fly-bi-sky,
It wor worth an net wealth 'at he prized.
Aw shall ne'er meet another soa honest an true,
As aw write ther's a tear i' mi ee;
Nah he's gooan to his rest, an aw'll give him his due, -
He wor allus a gooid friend to me.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:07 min read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababcdcD dedefdfD ghghidiD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,010
Words 215
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

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…

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