Farewell to barn and stack and tree,
Farewell to Severn shore.
Terence, look your last at me,
For I come home no more.”
“The sun burns on the half-mown hill,
By now the blood is dried;
And Maurice amongst the hay lies still
And my knife is in his side.”
“My mother thinks us long away;
‘Tis time the field were mown.
She had two sons at rising day,
To-night she’ll be alone.”
“And here’s a bloody hand to shake,
And oh, man, here’s good-bye;
We’ll sweat no more on scythe and rake,
My bloody hands and I.”
“I wish you strength to bring you pride,
And a love to keep you clean,
And I wish you luck, come Lammastide,
At racing on the green.”
“Long for me the rick will wait,
And long will wait the fold,
And long will stand the empty plate,
And dinner will be cold.”
In the first lines of ‘Farewell to Barn and
Stack and Tree’, the speaker begins by utilizing the line that later became
the title. He bids farewell to a barn, a “stack,” meaning a conical pile of hay
and a tree. These are specific images associated with a specific place, the
“Severn shore”. The Severn is the largest river in the UK along which many of
the most populated cities are situated. This line is also an example of
alliteration with the repetition of words beginning with “s”.
In the second stanza of ‘Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree’ the
speaker goes on. He informs the reader very quickly and emotionlessly that
someone has died. A man named “Maurice” is amongst the hay. He “lies still”. If
this isn’t bad enough, the speaker admits that his “knife is in his side”. Without a doubt, this is the reason
the speaker is feeling. He’s killed by this man, for unknown reasons, and must,
due to the pursuit of the law, leave his home. The first two lines of this stanza are
shocking. They contrast the warmth, heat, and colour of the sun, to that of the
“half-mown hill” and the dried blood.
The third stanza of ‘Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree’ continues
the speaker’s tale. He describes his mother and her perception of the day. With
these details the speaker’s crime becomes even more dramatic. It turns out that
Maurice was his brother. His mother is going to be expecting her two sons to
come home “To-night” but instead “she’ll be alone”. The speaker appears to be
well aware of the consequences of his actions. Juxtaposition is used again in these lines as the speaker recalls how the two
were meant to mow the lawn but instead, the day ended in murder and loss.
The story
continues into the fourth stanza. The speaker looks at his hand, holds it out
for his friend, and says “here’s a bloody hand to shake”. Whether it is covered
in blood or not, it drew blood and like Macbeth, is stained by the act. Finally, in the second
line, it appears the speaker is getting emotional, or at least a little
distressed about his situation. He moves through his words unevenly, saying
“And oh, man, here’s good-bye”. It is sinking in that he really has to leave,
it’s the end. From a goodbye to
his listener, he says goodbye to the life he had before. His “bloody hands” are
no longer going to “sweat…on scythe and rake” together. His life is about to
change dramatically. It’s clear the speaker wants nothing, but a positive
future for his friend. But, in wishing him so, he is contrasting his own
painful future with a happy and prosperous one. In the third line, he refers to
“Lammastide”. It is a holiday celebrated on August 01st to mark the wheat
harvest. In the last four
lines of ‘Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree,’ the speaker tells
the listener that the “rick” or stack of hay is going to wait for him. It will
be there in the field forever now, as his hands will never touch it again. The
same can be said for the “fold,” the “empty plate” at his mother’s kitchen
table, and the food on that plate. It will soon “be cold”. A “fold” is a
reference to a pen or enclosure in which animals are kept.
Source: https://poemanalysis.com/a-e-housman/farewell-to-barn-and-stack-and-tree/
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