Supernatural in ‘The Lammas Hireling’
LOAS:
1- Supernatural effects of the hireling frames loving relationship
2- Dehumanises the hireling, using its supposed supernatural nature to
absolve himself of guilt
3- Supernatural relationship with God frames his guilt
In ‘The Lammas Hireling’, Duhig presents the supernatural nature of the
hireling to frame the loving relationship between it and the speaker,
suggestive of suppressed desire. The supernatural effects of the hireling
are conveyed by the motif of economic prosperity, as ‘yields doubled.’
This is furthered by the personification of ‘cattle doted on him’ to present
the fostering of emotional connections the hireling’s presence evokes.
This act of ‘doting’ may mirror the speaker’s relationship with the hireling,
which can be perceived to be loving through the reference to ‘fond’ in ‘I
grew fond of company/That knew when to shut up.’ The enjambment here
reflects the speaker’s emotional overflow, subtly revealing an intimacy he
cannot openly express. The heavy prominence of caesura in this opening
stanza creates a sense of fond remembrance that the speaker does not
want to move on from in his recollection of the hireling, further
highlighting the sense of intimacy between them. The fact that the
‘dreams of my dear late wife’ lead to the hireling’s ‘pale form’ may depict
the subconscious sexual desires the speaker has regarding the hireling,
furthered in the homoerotic imagery of ‘stark-naked’ and ‘lovely head’.
The mystical, Gothic images of ‘pale form’ and ‘stark-naked’, therefore,
frame this eroticism through a supernatural lens to suggest a forbidden
attraction that the speaker cannot fully acknowledge, instead painting it
as unnatural to present it as taboo. As such, the hireling becomes an
embodiment of the speaker’s forbidden desires, and therefore, the act of
killing the hireling demonstrates the speaker’s internalised guilt in wanting
to suppress these feelings, using the supernatural to cast them as
otherworldly and socially transgressive. Overall, therefore, Duhig
harnesses the supernatural to give insight into the speaker’s love for the
hireling, as well as presenting the self-perceived unnaturalness of this
desire.
LOAS:
1- Supernatural effects of the hireling frames loving relationship
2- Dehumanises the hireling, using its supposed supernatural nature to
absolve himself of guilt
3- Supernatural relationship with God frames his guilt
In ‘The Lammas Hireling’, Duhig presents the supernatural nature of the
hireling to frame the loving relationship between it and the speaker,
suggestive of suppressed desire. The supernatural effects of the hireling
are conveyed by the motif of economic prosperity, as ‘yields doubled.’
This is furthered by the personification of ‘cattle doted on him’ to present
the fostering of emotional connections the hireling’s presence evokes.
This act of ‘doting’ may mirror the speaker’s relationship with the hireling,
which can be perceived to be loving through the reference to ‘fond’ in ‘I
grew fond of company/That knew when to shut up.’ The enjambment here
reflects the speaker’s emotional overflow, subtly revealing an intimacy he
cannot openly express. The heavy prominence of caesura in this opening
stanza creates a sense of fond remembrance that the speaker does not
want to move on from in his recollection of the hireling, further
highlighting the sense of intimacy between them. The fact that the
‘dreams of my dear late wife’ lead to the hireling’s ‘pale form’ may depict
the subconscious sexual desires the speaker has regarding the hireling,
furthered in the homoerotic imagery of ‘stark-naked’ and ‘lovely head’.
The mystical, Gothic images of ‘pale form’ and ‘stark-naked’, therefore,
frame this eroticism through a supernatural lens to suggest a forbidden
attraction that the speaker cannot fully acknowledge, instead painting it
as unnatural to present it as taboo. As such, the hireling becomes an
embodiment of the speaker’s forbidden desires, and therefore, the act of
killing the hireling demonstrates the speaker’s internalised guilt in wanting
to suppress these feelings, using the supernatural to cast them as
otherworldly and socially transgressive. Overall, therefore, Duhig
harnesses the supernatural to give insight into the speaker’s love for the
hireling, as well as presenting the self-perceived unnaturalness of this
desire.
