Yorkshire Ditties, First Series: To Which Is Added The Cream Of Wit And Humour From His Popular WritingsHartley, John
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Yorkshire Ditties, First Series: To Which Is Added The Cream Of Wit And Humour From His Popular Writings
Hartley, John
Dialect poetry, English -- England -- Yorkshire; Poetry of places; Yorkshire (England) -- Poetry
Solomon sed ther wor nowt new under th' sun; an' he owt to know if
onybody did. Maybe he wor reight if we luk at it i' some ways, but aw
think it's possible to see it in another leet. If ther wor nowt new,
ther'd be nowt to hooap for--nowt to live for but to dee; an' we
should lang for that time to come just for th' sake ov a change. Ha
anxiously a little child looks forrard to th' time when he's to have a
new toy, an' ha he prizes it at furst when he's getten it: but in a
while he throws it o' one side an' cries fur summat new. Ha he langs
to be as big as his brother, soa's he can have a new bat an' ball; an'
his brother langs for th' time when he can leeave schooil an' goa work
for his livin'; an' varry likely his fayther's langin' for th' time
when he can live withaat workin'--all on 'em langin for summat new.
Langill' for things new doesn't prevent us lovin' things at's owd. Who
isn't praad ov ther owd fayther, as he sits i' tharm-cheer an' tells
long tales abaat what he can remember bein' new? An' who doesn't feel
a soothin' kind ov a feelin' come ovver him when his mother's kindly
warnin' falls on his ear, as shoo tells him "what-iver he does, net to
be soa fond ov ivery thing new?" What a love fowk get for "th' owd
haase;" but ther's moor o'th' past nor o'th' futur' i' these feelin's,
they're not hopeful, an' its hopeful feelin's at keeps th' world a
goin', its hooap at maks us keep o'th' look aat for summat fresh.
Aw've heeard fowk wish for things to keep just as they are, they say
they dooant want owt new. What a mistak' they mak! They're wishin'
for what ud be th' mooast of a novelty. Things willn't stop as they
are, an' it wodn't be reight if they did. It's all weel enuff for
them at's feathered ther nest to feel moderate contented, but them
at's sufferin' for want ov a meal's mait are all hopin' for a change
for th' better. Owd hats an' owd slippers are generally more
comfortable nor new ens, an' fowk "wish they'd niver be done,"--"they
hate owt new"--as if it wodn't be summat new if they could wear 'em
withaat 'em bein' done. Young fowk are allus moor anxious for changes
nor owd fowk, its likely enuff; like a child wi' a pictur book, watch
him turn ovver two or three leaves at th' beginnin', see ha delighted
he is; but in a while he turns ovver moor carelessly, an' befoor he
gets to th' end he leaves it, wearied with its variety, or falls hard
asleep opposite one at wod have fascinated him when he began. Life's
nobbut a pictur' book ov another sooart, at th' beginnin' we're
delighted wi' ivery fresh leeaf, an' we keep turnin' ovver till at
last we get wearied, an' had rayther sit quietly looking at one. But
we cannot stop, we ha' to goo throo th' book whether we like it or
net, until at last we shut us een an' fall asleep over summat new.
Valentine Day
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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