Archaic or poetic English

As Webster tells us (albeit in flowery language) "wert" is an obsolete or deprecated form of "were" or "wart". Nowadays, about the only time you will see it is in poetry, and I can think of nothing which illustrates its usage better than this:

Ode to a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert --
That from heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art

Oh, and furthermore, it's nothing to do with my username...

Well, evilrooster challenged me to do it...

Wert (?)

, The second person singular, indicative and subjunctive moods, imperfect tense, of the verb be. It is formed from were, with the ending -t, after the analogy of wast. Now used only in solemn or poetic style.

 

© Webster 1913.


Wert, n.

A wart.

[Obs.]

Chaucer.

 

© Webster 1913.

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