Introduction

Duhig: The Lammas Hireling

In this course, Ian Duhig reads and discusses his poem The Lammas Hireling. In the first lecture, we read through the poem and consider the content of the poem in relations to Irish folklore. In the second lecture, we provide a close analysis of the poem's first two stanzas, before turning in the following lecture to do the same for the poem's third and fourth stanzas. In the fourth module, we discuss the language and structure of the poem, before turning in the fifth module to discuss the tone of the poem as a whole, before considering in more detail some of the poem's key themes.

Introduction

In this module, we read through The Lammas Hireling and discuss its context, focusing especially on: (i) the poem's unreliable narrator, (ii) Irish country magic and beliefs about 'butter witches,' (iii) the connection between poetry and magical incantation, and (iv) how poets Patrick Kavanagh and Michael Longley convey the loneliness of a farmer.