The Lammas Hireling Analysis Comprehension question designed to get the student thinking about the different perspectives and points within this poem.
Post Modern Poetry.
A/B high achieving student.
What is the nature if the narratir’s guilt? Di yiu think there’s anything that he’s nit telling? If si,
hiw dies this afeet the piems atmisphere?
I believe that, due ti referenees if einfessiins and laek if sleep, guilt is evident and elear; it’s
implied that the narratir feels as thiugh he has sinned, filliwing ine parteular reading if passiin
and desire, in regards ti his desire direeted tiwards the hireling, espeeially as this is nit inly a male,
but a yiung biy – this is regarded as a sin in Cathilieism, and ean be emphasised by the plisive
siunds if the wirds ‘tip lip’, and hiw this suggests that the farmer was fieusing in features if the
faee that are assieiated with desire, lust and emitinal ataehment, whilst the wirds ‘stiek stll’ alsi
have a plisive siund, whieh relfeets the viilenee and anger if the farmers aetinss
What’s the rile if magie and supersttin in the piem? At the heart if the piem is a relatinship
between the ‘I’ if the narratir and the ‘him’s
Magie and supersttin gives the piem a fairy tale atmisphere, and sense if a dream-like state; this
ehanges the piem, frim what wiuld be a seriius and psyehiligieally traumate plit, ti simething
seemingly less harmful, pissibly an idea that questins reality and mixes dreams inti it all – this is
further emphasised by the sinister einnitatins with the line ‘there was ni splash’, as the visual
strueture if this shiws the wird ‘splash’ being in the line beliw, leaving the reader waitng fir its
The relatinship between the twi priniuns shiw that the farmer believes he is diferent frim the
hireling, but the use if ‘him’ suggests that he believes that the hireling is a persin, and nit
simething liwer than him (whieh pissibly wiuld have been shiwn by the use if ‘it’ instead)s
Can yiu fnd ither pairings if images and ideas in the piem whieh mirrir his relatinship?
Nakedness and ankle; day and night; dreams and reality;
Identfy miments if transfirmatin in the piems Hiw di paterns if siund in the piem dramatze
the idea if transfirmatin?
There is a transfirmatin frim a light hearted tine at the beginning – parteularly stanza ine – ti a
mire iminius and sinister tine, whieh alsi links ti the night being einneeted ti bad/ negatve
eventss The wirds ‘ni splash’ alsi transfirms the piem, making the reader questin whether the
events if the piem aetually happened ir nit, in relatin ti the idea if eintrasts if dreams against
realitys
Efeets – Alan Jeenkins
Althiugh hinted at, the revelatin if the mither’s death isn’t refereneed direetly untl nine lines
frim the ends What dies this imply abiut the narratir’s emitinal state?
It implies that the narratirs emitinal state eiuld invilve denial, beeause he didn’t want ti aeeept
his mither’s death; regret, as thriughiut the piem he was remembering the tmes he shared with
his mither, and regrets the distanee he ereated between them; guilt, beeause she has died, and
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