Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Harry Josephine Giles

Vouels

Vouels

Vouels

aa yird, ey pa, ii chaak, oa gress, eu sea: thee soond,
no a chantan o atoms but a sang o shaeds:
aa, braad broun, lippered ower the wey an the grund
as deid haither an sharn, ploud field an soldier heid,
the iper an the muild whaar ony shaed mey thrive;
ey, primula scotica, here kent an huntid
een tae feet an spied an celebratid, coontid;
ii, ower white, shell white, wind white, egg white, aff white,
high-holy clood an grottie buckie, currency
an common weal; oa, will-willan yowe gaen mossy,
but nivver a tree? ach, stoup thee nivver a tree;
eu, me hamelt first an uncan last, aald aa roun,
stourie tide, in yin airt, an yin, aff tae Bergen
an ferivver, an aye me ee. Muscle o ee.







Yird: earth. Pa: purple fabric. Thee: your. Chantan: affected speech. Lippered: spilt.
Sharn: dung. Soldier: a weed (ribwort plantain, Plantago lanceolata). Iper: foul ooze.
Muild: soil. Kent: known. Een: eyes. Grottie buckie: a shell (cowrie, Cypraea europaea).
Weal: wealth, wellbeing. Will-willan: straying in the mind. Yowe: ewe. Stoup: shut up.
Hamelt: homely (or, only as tabu name, wife). Uncan: strange. Stourie: dusty, stormy.
Tide: tide, sea, time. Yin: that. Airt: direction. Aye: always.



Close

Vouels

aa yird, ey pa, ii chaak, oa gress, eu sea: thee soond,
no a chantan o atoms but a sang o shaeds:
aa, braad broun, lippered ower the wey an the grund
as deid haither an sharn, ploud field an soldier heid,
the iper an the muild whaar ony shaed mey thrive;
ey, primula scotica, here kent an huntid
een tae feet an spied an celebratid, coontid;
ii, ower white, shell white, wind white, egg white, aff white,
high-holy clood an grottie buckie, currency
an common weal; oa, will-willan yowe gaen mossy,
but nivver a tree? ach, stoup thee nivver a tree;
eu, me hamelt first an uncan last, aald aa roun,
stourie tide, in yin airt, an yin, aff tae Bergen
an ferivver, an aye me ee. Muscle o ee.







Yird: earth. Pa: purple fabric. Thee: your. Chantan: affected speech. Lippered: spilt.
Sharn: dung. Soldier: a weed (ribwort plantain, Plantago lanceolata). Iper: foul ooze.
Muild: soil. Kent: known. Een: eyes. Grottie buckie: a shell (cowrie, Cypraea europaea).
Weal: wealth, wellbeing. Will-willan: straying in the mind. Yowe: ewe. Stoup: shut up.
Hamelt: homely (or, only as tabu name, wife). Uncan: strange. Stourie: dusty, stormy.
Tide: tide, sea, time. Yin: that. Airt: direction. Aye: always.



Vouels

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère