The Lammas Hireling by Ian Duhig (Edexcel A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes

The Lammas Hireling by Ian Duhig

Analysis of the Title

The title "The Lammas Hireling" refers to a labourer hired around Lammas, a traditional festival marking the wheat harvest. The term "hireling" suggests a temporary worker. The title foreshadows the agricultural and mystical elements of the poem, hinting at a story rooted in rural traditions and folklore.

Structure and Form

Form, Metre, and Rhyme

• The poem consists of four sestets (six-line stanzas), written in free verse without a regular rhyme scheme or metre.
• The free verse form allows for a conversational yet fragmented narrative, reflecting the speaker's disturbed state of mind.

Speaker

• The speaker is a farmer recounting a disturbing tale involving a young hireling he employed.
• The speaker's tone shifts from a nostalgic recounting of past events to a confession filled with guilt and paranoia, indicating an unreliable and troubled narrator.

Setting

• The setting shifts from a pastoral farm environment after the Lammas festival to the darker, more surreal landscape of the speaker's guilty conscience.
• The setting underscores the blend of the mundane and the supernatural, typical of folklore.

Poetic Devices

Imagery

• The poem uses vivid and often grotesque imagery to convey the supernatural and the macabre.

Juxtaposition

• The poem juxtaposes the initial prosperity brought by the hireling with the subsequent horror and guilt following his murder.
• This contrast highlights the themes of suspicion and paranoia.

Alliteration and Consonance

• Alliteration and consonance contribute to the poem's rhythmic quality and tension.

Enjambment

• Enjambment is used extensively to create a sense of urgency and to reflect the speaker's fractured mental state.
• For example, "I hunted down her torn voice to his pale form. / Stock-still in the light from the dark lantern," conveys a continuous, breathless narrative.

Simile

• Similes are used to enhance the vividness of descriptions: "His eyes rose like bread." This simile adds a surreal and unsettling quality to the transformation.

Metaphor

• The transformation of the hireling into a hare serves as a metaphor for the speaker's guilt and paranoia: "I saw him fur over like a stone mossing."

Key Themes

Guilt and Confession

• The poem explores the theme of guilt, as the speaker is haunted by his actions and seeks confession: "Bless me Father for I have sinned. / It has been an hour since my last confession."

Superstition and Folklore

• The poem is steeped in folklore, with references to witches and supernatural transformations, illustrating how superstition influences the speaker's perception and actions: "I knew him a warlock, a cow with leather horns."

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-6

After the fair, I'd still a light heart

and a heavy purse, he struck so cheap.

And cattle doted on him: in his time

mine only dropped heifers, fat as cream.

Yields doubled. I grew fond of company

that knew when to shut up. Then one night,

"After the fair, I'd still a light heart"

• The speaker begins by describing a period of happiness and prosperity.
• The phrase "light heart" suggests contentment and satisfaction.

"and a heavy purse, he struck so cheap."

• The speaker's financial gain is highlighted by the "heavy purse."
• The hireling's cheap cost is noted, implying a bargain.

"And cattle doted on him: in his time / mine only dropped heifers, fat as cream."

• The hireling's positive influence on the farm is evident as the cattle thrive.
• The simile "fat as cream" emphasises the healthy condition of the cattle.

"Yields doubled. I grew fond of company / that knew when to shut up. Then one night,"

• The hireling's presence brings about prosperity, doubling yields.
• The speaker appreciates the hireling's silence, hinting at a deeper, possibly repressed, tension.

Lines 7-12

disturbed from dreams of my dear late wife,

I hunted down her torn voice to his pale form.

Stock-still in the light from the dark lantern,

stark-naked but for one bloody boot of fox-trap,

I knew him a warlock, a cow with leather horns.

To go into the hare gets you muckle sorrow,

"disturbed from dreams of my dear late wife,"

• The speaker is troubled by dreams of his deceased wife.
• The word "dear" suggests affection, but also raises questions about the nature of her death.

"I hunted down her torn voice to his pale form."

• The speaker associates his wife's voice with the hireling, creating a link between the two.
• This association foreshadows the ensuing conflict.

"Stock-still in the light from the dark lantern,"

• The hireling is described as motionless, creating an eerie atmosphere.
• The contrast between "light" and "dark" emphasises the scene's tension.

"stark-naked but for one bloody boot of fox-trap,"

• The hireling's nakedness, except for a bloody boot, adds to the grotesque imagery.
• This detail hints at a violent encounter.

"I knew him a warlock, a cow with leather horns."

• The speaker labels the hireling a warlock, blending superstition with reality.
• The metaphor "a cow with leather horns" refers to a hare, linking to folklore.

"To go into the hare gets you muckle sorrow,"

• This line references folklore, suggesting that engaging in witchcraft brings great sorrow.

Lines 13-18

the wisdom runs, muckle care. I levelled

and blew the small hour through his heart.

The moon came out. By its yellow witness

I saw him fur over like a stone mossing.

His lovely head thinned. His top lip gathered.

His eyes rose like bread. I carried him

"the wisdom runs, muckle care. I levelled"

• The speaker reflects on the folklore wisdom that engaging with hares brings sorrow.
• He prepares to act on his suspicion.

"and blew the small hour through his heart."

• The speaker shoots the hireling, metaphorically described as blowing the hour through his heart.
• This act marks a turning point, filled with violence.

"The moon came out. By its yellow witness / I saw him fur over like a stone mossing."

• The moonlight reveals the hireling's transformation, blending reality with the supernatural.
• The simile "like a stone mossing" conveys a slow, natural transformation.

"His lovely head thinned. His top lip gathered. / His eyes rose like bread."

• The hireling's transformation continues, described in unsettling, surreal terms.
• The speaker's description hints at a fascination with the hireling's appearance.

"I carried him"

• The speaker takes the hireling's body, showing his commitment to disposing of the evidence.

Lines 19-24

in a sack that grew lighter at every step

and dropped him from a bridge. There was no

splash. Now my herd's elf-shot. I don't dream

but spend my nights casting ball from half-crowns

and my days here. Bless me Father for I have sinned.

It has been an hour since my last confession.

"in a sack that grew lighter at every step"

• The sack's lightness suggests a supernatural element to the hireling's body.
• The act of carrying the body underscores the speaker's guilt.

"and dropped him from a bridge. There was no / splash."

• The body makes no splash, reinforcing the eerie, supernatural atmosphere.
• This detail heightens the sense of something being fundamentally wrong.

"Now my herd's elf-shot. I don't dream"

• The speaker's herd is now cursed, reflecting his troubled conscience.
• His inability to dream suggests ongoing guilt and insomnia.

"but spend my nights casting ball from half-crowns / and my days here. Bless me Father for I have sinned."

• The speaker makes bullets at night, preparing for further violence or protection.
• His days are spent seeking absolution in church, indicating deep-seated guilt.

"It has been an hour since my last confession."

• The final line reveals the extent of the speaker's torment, confessing his sins frequently.
• This line emphasises the cyclical nature of his guilt and paranoia.