Farmhand by James Baxter Essay

This poem was written by James Baxter who was born and lived in New Zealand. He was brought up in a farm in a quiet and bleak south east corner of New Zealand.The poem is about a farmhand who is portrayed to be a very ambivalent character. He is unhappy and rather faint-hearted in certain situations and extremely positive and gloriously happy in others.Some old wounds a past exist or probably the secret night which has witnessed some deep dark individualized experiencesrelate to his emotions and melancholy. However 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 dancing floor.The first stanza tries to give the impression from his gestures that he is a careless person not interested in what is going round him the way he is smoking and joking with his friends. But as the poet helps us observe him closer and find him Looking out into the secret night and eternally his eyes turning to the dance floor and the girls we realize that the farmhand is not as he appears to be.It is obvious that he desires and longs to be inside but something is place him back. Describing girls as drifting like flowers shows how he is able to appreciate their beauty and grace inspite of his work and natural settings being devoid of them.Music is personified to show effect. Baxter says the symphony is so emotive that the music tears slowly in his mind an old wound open reveals that he has had an unpleasant sad emotional experience and the deep wound has not yet healed.Painful memories may be still fresh and sur pillow slip upon watching the girls dance on the floors or perceive to the music or even gazing at the dark night, which shares his secret and sorrow.The reader feels very sympathetic towards the farmhand in the second stanza when the poet writes, His red sunburnt face and short-haired hands were not made for dancing or love -making. The description of his bodily fe atures convey he is unappealing to the girls of upper social folk and not fit to indulge in dancing and socializing or love making which is privilege of the elite and handsome.The farmhand is engaged in an occupation, which benefits and is a necessity to all mankind. Yet his sacrifice and selfless attitude to his work is not appreciated and he feels inhibited and diffident to mix with girls because of his external display and social standing. He is categorized as only fit for earth wave breaking and for using the ploughThe crops are described as slow-growing as his mind. This simile maybe interpreted as slow to reveal his emotions and express his thoughts and feelings and may possibly be the reason he is yet to have a bun in the oven a girlfriend or wife.The fourth stanza talks of the farmhands loneliness and vacuum he experiences in life. He longs for mortal to love and someone who loves and cares for him. Like other people of his age and he yearns to have someone to walk with, to laugh and share life with.He has his hopes and dreams but he feels because of his hairy hands and sunburnt face he may only be able to weave or yarn dreams but they may never induce a reality.Here again the reader is moved, as life has been so harsh to the farmhand because of the nature of his job 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 gossamer girls on the dance floor, are perfect for his job he carries out effortlessly.The poet uses the exclamationAh as an exclamation of admiration towards the farmer and how perfectly he fits his habit and jobIt is touching to note that the persona has not been given a name and is referred throughout as Farmhand gives the impression that he has no ain identity and is known and recognized by his job around which his life revolves. He lives for his job.