Introduction to 'The Lammas Hireling'

Welcome to one of the most mysterious and haunting poems in your Poems of the Decade collection! The Lammas Hireling by Ian Duhig reads like a dark folk tale or a murder mystery. It is a narrative poem, which means it tells a story—but as you will soon see, our storyteller might not be telling us the whole truth.

Don't worry if this poem feels a bit "weird" at first. It is designed to be ambiguous (having more than one meaning). Whether you believe the narrator saw a magical creature or just committed a cold-blooded crime, your job is to analyze how Duhig uses language to create this eerie atmosphere.

The "Story" in Four Stanzas

To keep things simple, let’s look at the plot of the poem like a short film:

Stanza 1: The Arrival. At a harvest festival (Lammas), a farmer hires a young man. The "hireling" is amazing at his job—the cows produce more milk, and everything seems perfect. The narrator says he was "fey" (magical/otherworldly).

Stanza 2: The Shock. The narrator has a bad dream about his dead wife. He goes out with a lantern and finds the hireling caught in a trap. But here is the twist: he claims the hireling is a warlock (a male witch) who can change into a hare.

Stanza 3: The Violence. In a moment of panic (or madness), the narrator shoots the hireling through the heart. As the hireling dies, he transforms from a man into a creature, then his body disappears into the river. He becomes "heavy" like "leather-and-hair."

Stanza 4: The Aftermath. The narrator is now obsessed with his guilt. His luck has run out, his cattle are sick, and he spends his days in church, constantly confessing his sins to a priest. He is stuck in a loop of guilt.

Key Features to Analyze (AO2)

1. The Unreliable Narrator

In literature, an unreliable narrator is a storyteller who might be lying, crazy, or mistaken.
Think about it: Did the hireling really turn into a hare? Or is the farmer imagining things to justify the fact that he murdered a young man? Duhig leaves clues that the narrator is "disturbed," such as his "dark lantern" and his constant need for confession at the end.

2. Imagery of Nature and Folklore

Duhig uses very specific "earthy" words to ground the poem in a rural, old-fashioned world:

  • "Mucking out": Shows the hard, physical reality of farm life.
  • "The fat of the land": An idiom meaning living well, but here it feels heavy and greasy.
  • "Yellow witness": Referring to the moon. It makes the moon sound like a person watching a crime take place.

3. Sound and Rhythm

The poem doesn’t have a simple "AABB" rhyme scheme, which makes it feel unpredictable and unsettling. However, it uses enjambment (where one line spills into the next without a pause).
Example: "and struck / the match." This creates a fast, nervous pace, mirroring the narrator’s racing heart and panicked mind.

Themes: The Big Ideas

Guilt and Sin: The poem ends with the narrator "blessing" himself and "confessing." This suggests he is haunted by what he did. He has "only dropped has been eleven days" from his last confession, meaning he is trapped in a cycle of religious guilt.

The Supernatural vs. Reality: Is this a story about magic (warlocks and hares) or a story about a mental breakdown? The poem blurs the line between a "ghost story" and a "crime report."

Violence: The sudden transition from the peaceful farm life to the "shot through the heart" creates a shocking contrast.

Quick Review: Memory Aid

To remember the core of this poem, think of the "THREE M’s":

  • Mystery: Was the hireling a man or a hare?
  • Murder: The central violent act of the poem.
  • Madness: The narrator’s obsession with confession and his "dark" perspective.

Making Connections (AO4)

Since your exam requires you to compare two poems, here are some great "partners" for The Lammas Hireling:

  • Compare with Giuseppe (Roderick Ford): Both poems involve the killing of a "magical" or "unnatural" being (a mermaid vs. a warlock-hare) and explore the excuses people make for violence.
  • Compare with The Gun (Vicki Feaver): Both poems explore how violence and hunting change a person's relationship with nature and power.
  • Compare with The Deliverer (Tishani Doshi): Both poems deal with dark, hidden secrets and the "darker side" of human behavior.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Don't spend too much time on History: While "Lammas" is a real harvest festival, AO3 (Context) is NOT assessed in Unit 1 Section A. You don't need to write a history essay about 19th-century farming. Focus on the words on the page (AO2) and how they create meaning.

Don't decide on one "right" answer: If you say "The narrator is definitely a murderer," you might miss marks. The best essays say "On one hand, the narrator seems to believe in magic, but on the other hand, Duhig uses imagery to suggest the narrator is hiding a dark truth." Ambiguity is your friend!

Key Takeaway

The Lammas Hireling is a masterclass in voice. It uses folklore and "dark" imagery to tell a story of violence and guilt, leaving the reader to decide if they are reading a supernatural tale or a confession of a crime.