Fare Well To Barn and Stalk and Tree

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Fare Well To Barn and Stalk and Tree   

 A.E. Housman

Alfred Edward Housman an English classical scholar and poet. He was born at valley in Fockbury. He was educated at King Edward’s school in Birmingham. In his private life Housman enjoyed country walks, air travel and making visits to France. His feeling about his poetry were ambivalent and he certainly treated it as secondary to his scholarship. He died at the age of 77 in Cambridge. His poems are marked by pessimism and preoccupation with death, without religious consolation. After his death his brother published his poem. His notable works are, A Shropshire Lad, More Poem and Last Poem.

Poem

Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree

“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, 5

 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. 10

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, 15 

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 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. 20

“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

Summary

It is a narrative poem. This poem talks about story of a man who killed his brother in a wheat field. The starting lines tells that the speaker has to leave as he killed his brother Maurice. But there is no reason for his action but he mediate on the present and future. He leaves behind his mother, the farm and everything on it. He has no life.

Analysis

Stanza one

“Fare well to barn and stack and tree

 Farewell to seven shore

 Terence, look your last at me,

 For I come home no more.

 The stating lines indicates an ending to a person. He bids farewell to a barn, a stack – pite of hay and a tree, He is in such a state with a final decision to say farewell to his farm. He never going to come back after this moment. The images of barn, stack and tree are associate with a place. The “Seven Shore” seven shore is the largest river in the U K.

Terence is the listener. He asks Terence to take a look at him as he is never going to come back. There are many questions arise in the readers mind. The readers has no idea of the reasons for his sudden departure. But the expressions say he feels sorry to leave.

Stanza Two

“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.”

 In the second stanza the speaker informs the readers without any emotions about the death of a person called Maurice. The dead body lies among the hay.  He “lies still”. The terrible thing is the speaker confesses that his “knife is in his side.”  Now the doubts are getting cleared. The speaker killed this man for any reasons, and decides to leave his home.  The first two lines “sun burns on the half mown hill” contrast the warmth, color of the sun gives the effect of dried blood

 Stanza three

“My mother thinks us long away;

“Tis time the field were mown,

She had two sons at rising day,

In – night she’ll be alone

The story continues, the speaker describes his mother’s condition with his details readers could understands that Maurice is his brother. Their mother would be expecting her two sons to come home  “To –night”, but soon she will be alone. The speaker knows what he has done to his brother and mother.  Juxtaposition is used in these situation as the speaker says how two meant to maw the lawn but instead, the day ended with a murder and loss of his blood brother.

Stanza 4

“And here’s a blood hand to shake

And oh, man, here’s good – bye,

We’ll sweat no more on scythe and rake,          

My bloody hands and I”.

The poem continues, the speaker looks at his hands and shows it to his friend and says “here’s a bloody hand to shake” he gets emotional, sad about his situation for, he  has decided to move permanently.  It is the end of his life in this Barn.  By good he means the end of the life he had before.  His “bloody hands” are no longer going to sweat on scythe and rake, his life is going to change.

Stanza 5

In this stanza, the speaker wishes the listener Terence good wishes.   He wishes him to find “a love to keep you clean” it refers to a passion in life.  The sinner cannot have a bright future to keep him clean.  He wants his hands to be “clean”, but they are stained with blood.  He cannot undone his sins.  It is a contrast feeling to note that the speaker wishes his friend to have a prosperous life where as he is going to live in his own painful future.

Stanza 6

“Long for me the rick will wait,

And long will wait the fold,

And long will stand the empty plate,

Diner will be cold.

Here the speaker tells that the rick will wait for him.  It will there forever he won’t touch them again as he is leaving.  Same situation when he says “fold the empty plate” in the kitchen table, food on the plate.  It will be there without anyone.  It will “cold”

 Poetic Techniques

It is a six stanza poem, separated into four line sets.  It follows ABAB, CDCD pattern.  This poem includes Anaphora, Alliteration, Enjambment and Juxtaposition.

Alliteration and Anaphora

Repetition of “Farewell” twice in the stanza, and long in the sixth.  These repetitions stress the pain of the speaker.

Alliteration is used in close together.

  For example:

  “Severn shore”

 Half mown hill”

 Ballad style

It has few features which make it a ballad.  The whole background comes from the country side.  Ballads are usually in dialogue style.  Short stories is another feature of ballad which is obvious in the poem.  The use of colloquial language is also counted as another feature of the ballad.  Each stanza is set in the four lines arrangement, rhyming scheme is ABAB, CDCD, and EFEF

 Thus A.E.Housman gives a sad tone of expression of a person who suffers with feeling of guilt.

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