Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree - A E Houseman

 

“Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree” was composed by the English scholar/poet Alfred Edward Houseman (1859-1936). It appeared in the collection A Shropshire Lad which explores the lives of the youth in that area. The title of the poem is the first line of the poem itself. The poem is a pastoral lyric that can be set to music and sung. In addition, it contains a personal experience. The poem has 6 quatrains rhyming abab cdcd efef ghgh ijij klkl. The tone of the poem is very sad. The entire poem is in the form of a monologue. 

In the first stanza, the poet is bidding farewell to things that defined him and therefore were dear to him: the barn, the stack and the tree. Without these things to give meaning to his life, the man becomes a nobody or a man without an identity. By repeating the word “and” the poet adds a sense of deliberateness to the actions of the poetic persona. He is taking his time in taking leave from things that were important to him. A barn is the heart of a farm. It is where machinery, farm vehicles, grain and hay are stored. The stack is a short form for the hay stack which signals the poetic persona’s familiarity with it. It is essential for the continuation of the farm animals in the winter. The tree stands for all the trees one might encounter in the farm.  In the second line the poetic persona is saying goodbye to a possible childhood haunt: the Severan shore. In the third line the poetic persona is inviting someone called Terrence to look at him for the last time. Terrence could be a friend. At the same time Terrence was a name used frequently in both Greco-Roman and English pastoral poems. The poetic persona is asking his friend to look at him for the last time. The reason for the strange request was that he was not going to come home for Terrance to see him thereafter.

“Farewell to barn and stack and tree,                       
Farewell to Severn shore.                                         
Terence, look your last at me,
For I come home no more.

In the second quatrain, the poetic persona takes his attention off his friend in order to provide the reader an explanation for his earlier cryptic/enigmatic comment about not coming home. His eyes move to the very edge of his farm where he had been working mowing the hill for hay with his brother Maurice. Now the time is close to mid-day but the hill is only “half-mown”. This statement generates suspense. The reader would want to know why the work is half done. The poetic voice is reluctant to give the answer directly; so, he procrastinates getting to the point by saying “[b]y now the blood is dried”. This ominous statement suggests foul-play – something bad had happened. In the second half of the stanza the poet gives further details: “And Maurice among the hay lies still”. The term “lies still” is euphemism. Instead of revealing the unpleasant truth that Maurice is dead or more to the point murdered, the poetic persona says that he is lying still. Still he is unable to make a full confession. Instead of saying that he had killed his brother by stabbing him, the voice just says “[a]nd my knife is in his [Maurice’s] side”.  The image of his brother lying dead “amongst the hay” is branded onto his brain so that he could easily visualize it. So, by leaving the village he might be able to evade authorities but his troubled mind would never be at peace.      

“The sun burns on the half-mown hill, 5
By now the blood is dried;
And Maurice amongst the hay lies still
And my knife is in his side.

Next, he imagines how the tragedy would affect their mother. He says that his mother assumed that they were still working as it was harvest time - a busy time for farmers. The next two lines generate a lot of pathos: “She had two sons at rising day/ To-night she’ll be alone”. At sunrise she was happy mother of two strapping young men. Her future was assures. As a result of his action, his mother whom he calls “[m]y mother” would be childless and destitute. Hers would be a lonely life form then onwards as suggested by the use of the term “alone”.

 
“My mother thinks us long away;
,Tis time the field were mown. 10
She had two sons at rising day,
To-night she’ll be alone.

In the fourth stanza, the poetic persona is extending his hand to his friend to shake. The hands of the poetic persona may actually be bloody or it could be a reference to the intense feeling of guilt he is experiencing as a result of his sinful deed. The sadness he feels at this point is expressed by the phrase “And oh, man, here’s goodbye” – he is overcome emotions. Once again he looks at his hand which held the knife that killed his brother. He talks to it. He says his bloody hands and he would “sweat no more on scythe and rake”. For a farmer to be cut off from farming and farm would be virtual death. In this quatrain the poetic persona uses the phrase “bloody hand” twice. It suggests that no matter what he did he could not take his mind off the crime he had committed.    

“And here’s a bloody hand to shake,
And oh, man, here’s good-bye;
We’ll sweat no more on scythe and rake, 15
My bloody hands and I.

At this point, the poetic voice is aware of the magnitude of his loss. He has lost his farm, his occupation, his mother, his only brother, his friends (Terrance), familiar sights (Severen), and things that made him happy (racing). More than anything else, he is going to lose his name as a fugitive. However, he is generous in his wishes for his friend Terrance. He wishes Terrance’s strength unlike his own would bring him only pride. He has used his own strength to kill his brother. Fratricide – killing of siblings – brings shame. Secondly, he wishes his friend would find love that would keep him clean. His own love, on the other hand, seemed to have been the reason behind the killing of his brother. Therefore, his own love is tainted by suspicion and fratricide. Lastly, he wishes that Terrance would win the race held on the village green during Lammastide. This seems to be the height of village life which he would not be a part of from that day onwards.

  
“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. 20

At the point of departure, the poetic persona is yet again thinking of the things he would have to leave behind: the hayrick, the fold and the empty plate. He imagines the hayrick waiting for him to come back loaded with a fresh supply of hay for the farm animals to eat in the winter. As he is going to run, away the task is not going to be completed. Consequently, there is a good chance that the farm animals would starve in the winter. Next, he thinks of the sheep that they must have let out to graze in the morning. In the evening, the fold would be waiting for the sheep to be brought back which is not going to happen. Left on their own in the pasture, the sheep would fall prey to predators or others farmers may lay claim to them. Either ways, his mother is not going to see them. Sheep represent food and clothing on a farm and without them his mother would suffer greatly. He sees his empty plate on the table which his mother filled for him every day. Evening meals were time of good cheer and warmth. He would not be able to experience those feelings ever again. Not only that, he imagines his mother waiting for his brother and him to come home until dinner turns cold. The rick, the fold and the plate are waiting – this is an example for the use of pathetic fallacy (giving human qualities to an inanimate object.)     

“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.”

1.     What are the four things the poetic persona is saying farewell to in the first stanza of the poem?

2.     Who does he invite to have a last look at him?

3.     What is the time of the day? Support your answer with a quote from the poem.

4.     What had happened to Maurice?

5.     What is the poetic voice’s role in Maurice’s fate?

6.     What does their mother think her two sons were doing?

7.     What tragedy awaits her at the end of the day?

8.     Why does the poetic persona call his hand a “bloody hand”?

9.     What kind of feeling is generated by the line “And oh, man, here’s a good bye”?

10.            Who are referred to by “We” in the fourth stanza?

11.            What are the three things the poetic persona wishes for Terrance?

12.            Why does he wish Terrence would have:

a.     Strength that would bring him pride?

b.     Love that would keep him clean?

c.      Luck that would allow him to win the race at Lammastide?

13.            What are the three things that would wait for him in the last stanza? Why would they be waiting for him?

14.            Summarize the poem in your own words. Use 90-100 words.