Farmhand by James Baxter Essay

This poem was written by James Baxter who was born and lived in overbold Zealand. He was brought up in a farm in a softly and bleak s starth east control of New Zealand.The poem is about a farmhand who is portrayed to be a very ambivalent character. He is distressed and rather unsure in certain(a) situations and extremely cocksure and gloriously beaming in others.Some old wounds a past start or in all likelihood the secret night which has witnessed some plenteous raunchy personal experiencesrelate to his emotions and melancholy. in time all his sadness is vanquished once on the farm where he feels like a king.In the first two stanzas the poet describes the farmhand as he stands outside the leaping floor.The first stanza tries to give the impression from his gestures that he is a careless person not interested in what is going near him the way he is smoking and intercommunicate with his friends. But as the poet helps us comply him closer and find him Looking out into the secret night and always his look turning to the dance floor and the girls we ca-ca that the farmhand is not as he appears to be.It is obvious that he desires and longs to be at bottom but something is holding him back. Describing girls as float like f gloomyers appearances how he is able to appraise their beauty and grace inspite of his work and native settings being devoid of them.Music is personified to show effect. Baxter says the melody is so emotive that the euphony tears muffledly in his perspicacity an old wound open reveals that he has had an unpleasant sad emotional experience and the deep wound has not thus far healed.Painful memories whitethorn be shut away fresh and surface upon watching the girls dance on the floors or listening to the medicine or still gazing at the dark night, which shares his secret and sorrow.The reader feels very kind-hearted towards the farmhand in the second stanza when the poet writes, His inflammation sunburnt face and co mose transfer were not made for dancing or love -making. The description of his bodily features necessitate he is unappealing to the girls of upper brotherly class and not fit to bilk in dancing and socializing or love making which is privilege of the selected and pass onome.The farmhand is eng bestrided in an occupation, which benefits and is a necessity to all mankind. Yet his let go and selfless attitude to his work is not appreciated and he feels inhibited and diffident to mix with girls because of his external appearance and social standing. He is categorized as sole(prenominal) fit for earth wave gap and for using the ploughThe crops are depict as slow-growing as his mind. This illustration maybe interpreted as slow to reveal his emotions and express his thoughts and feelings and may peradventure be the reason he is until now to have a girlfriend or wife.The fourth stanza talks of the farmhands loneliness and vacuum he experiences in demeanor. He longs for per son to love and someone who loves and cares for him. Like other people of his age and he yearns to have someone to take the air with, to laugh and share behavior with.He has his hopes and dreams but he feels because of his hairy hands and sunburnt face he may only be able to waffle or yarn dreams but they may never become a reality. present again the reader is moved, as life has been so harsh to the farmhand because of the constitution of his air that he is now even diffident and embarrassed to dream and hope.In the last stanza the poet tells us that the Farmhand is in his domain The Farm and once in his natural element he is confident and comfortable. His looks dont affect him and his low self-esteem is vanquished.The sound of the tractor engine is music to his ears one which energizes him, not which makes him nostalgic and sad.His hairy hands, which seemed clumsy around delicate girls on the dance floor, are perfect for his job he carries out effortlessly.The poet uses the ex clamationAh as an exclamation of admiration towards the farmer and how absolutely he fits his role and jobIt is speck to note that the persona has not been stipulation a name and is referred throughout as Farmhand gives the impression that he has no personal identity and is known and recognised by his job around which his life revolves. He lives for his job.