Summary
Lines 1-4:
The opening stanza introduces a series of demanding tasks. It's immediately evident to the reader that the "you" or "your" being addressed is not human, but a horse. This animal is a workhorse, a "brute" undertaking the farm tasks that are too strenuous for humans to handle alone. These chores are challenging for the horse as well, which must "strain" against its load.
The mention of the horse's gear, such as its harnesses, collars, and padding, is crucial. These details enhance the speaker's credibility, offering readers insight into the operations of a working farm, a setting unfamiliar to many. Most importantly, the equipment signifies the horse's physical connection to its owner, illustrating the master's total control. The "ash hames" are curved supports made from ash wood attached to the collar. These are secured to the traces, which link the horse to the sledge or sled, enabling the horse to pull it. Essentially, the horse is directly tied to the heavy load it is dragging.
This stanza also conveys a strong sense of time and process. The hauling depicted is merely one step in a sequence of essential tasks. The wood is being gathered and stored for drying, in preparation for the upcoming winter.
Lines 5-8:
Notice how the initial two words echo the beginning of the first stanza, with "All winter" now replaced by "In April." Time progresses, and with the changing seasons, new and different farm duties arise. Fertilizer needs to be spread across the fields. With "all summer," the poet aligns even more closely with the poem's opening words. Without pause, it becomes summer, and it's time to cut and collect the hay. To capture the intensity of the hayfield, Hall uses two distinct poetic techniques. The first is onomatopoeia, where a word mimics the sound it describes. (Examples include hiss, hum, and click, which represent sounds.) Here, Hall creates the word "clacketing" to imitate the noise and vibrations of the mowing machine. The word resembles "clack," which means to make a clattering sound. However, Hall extends it to "clacket," rhyming with "racket," meaning a loud commotion. This invented word adds depth and effectively conveys the idea of a constant, disruptive noise.
Hall concludes the stanza with another creative use of language: personification. This technique involves giving human traits to non-human entities. In this instance, the sun is described as having "walked high" in the summer sky. This imaginative depiction of the sun's journey across the sky not only highlights the passage of time, a crucial element of the poem, but also underscores the slow, relentless toil of the horse. As the horse repeats its monotonous tasks, the sun gradually ascends, intensifying the heat on the laborers and making their work increasingly challenging.
Lines 9-12:
This stanza continues to depict the hay season. Although the second stanza hints at repetition with words like "manure" and "mowed/mowing" appearing twice, the emphasis here shifts to rhyme and sound. The repetition manifests in two ways: full rhyme (such as "stack," "hayrack," and "back"; as well as "hay" and "day") and internal rhyme, where sounds rhyme within a word. This can be seen in "rake" and "acres" and in "dragged" and "wagon." As these sounds flow through the poem, they create connections through rhyme and repetition. Hall's clever wordplay with rhymes adds rhythm and cohesiveness, guiding the reader smoothly through the poem. The sounds are not only pleasing but also serve as the glue that holds the poem together, allowing each line or stanza to transition seamlessly into the next. This repetition of words and sounds subtly emphasizes a key,...
(This entire section contains 1305 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
unspoken message: the work is perpetual, with each task involving the same actions repeated endlessly. Here, the recurring sounds mirror the repetitive nature of the horse's chores.
Lines 13-16:
In these lines, Hall opts not to focus on the farmers who endure both the weather and the horses to maintain the farm. However, if the reader feels any sympathy for them, the poet seems to downplay their importance in this stanza. While the people, the horse's owners, observe the Sabbath, a day of rest, the horse receives no such reprieve. Although their Sunday task is far less demanding than farm work, the horse "trotted" with its "light load." Whether for labor or leisure, the horse remains a tool for humans.
The poem conjures a profound sense of time, emphasizing that "generation on generation" horses have carried their owners to church. The reader soon realizes Hall is not speaking to a single horse but to all the animals that have toiled and perished on his grandparents' farm. This stanza concludes with a simile, a comparison involving "like" or "as," to emphasize the enduring labor over vast periods. Hall asserts that, much like the sea erodes glass edges over time with its waves, generations of horses have worn smooth the stall's sill.
Lines 17-20:
As numerous seasons have passed, the horse has outlived its utility to its owner. The farmer shows no sentimentality, viewing the horse not as a pet but as a "machine," similar to a hay rake. Now more of a burden than a benefit, the horse is led out for the final time across the fields it once helped cultivate. Hall's tone remains straightforward and factual. The reader is left uncertain about the feelings of "the man who fed you and kept you, and harnessed you every morning." These could be affectionate actions born of love for the animal, or merely pragmatic efforts to safeguard his investment and maximize the horse's productivity. As the farmer prepares the horse's grave, the animal stands "shuddering," a carefully chosen word that adds an ambiguous layer to the stanza. Does the term imply the horse senses its impending end and waits in fear? Or does it highlight the horse's diminished state, justifying its demise as its once robust muscles have weakened into involuntary tremors? This lack of definitive clarity propels the poem, sparking the reader's curiosity to continue seeking answers.
Lines 21-24:
The poem vividly and straightforwardly depicts the horse's demise. A single gunshot ends its life, and the horse is quickly laid to rest in its grave. Hall effectively uses repeated sounds and phrases throughout the poem. The repetition of structures like "into your brain" and "into your grave," along with internal rhymes such as "shoveling," "cover," and "above," takes on a deeper meaning. It's not just about the tedium of repetitive tasks but highlights a broader cycle: the horse's life journey from its working days to its final moments. The poem doesn't conclude with the horse's death; instead, it is part of a larger sequence of the horse's life. Hall refrains from a sentimental reflection on the horse's years of labor on the farm. By the stanza's end, six months have passed, leaving only a "dent in the ground" as evidence of the horse's existence.
Lines 25-29:
In this stanza, the poem's perspective expands. The horse's life story also reflects on the passage of time, seasons, and years that defined the horse's routine on the farm. Now, time has moved forward significantly. It's 150 years later, and the pasture has turned into a horse burial ground. The stanza concludes with a subtle yet ironic observation on the horses' lives of labor. Even in death, they continue to serve; they become "soil makers," their bones mixing and working the earth as the ground shifts with seasonal temperature changes.
Line 29:
Hall concludes the poem with a unique single-line stanza, breaking the usual pattern of four-line stanzas to list the names of horses that toiled on the farm. This roll-call clarifies the poem's title. The reader gains a deeper understanding of the "you" in the title: Hall is not speaking to just one horse, but to many. By narrating the story of one, he tells the tale of all.
