The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Deserted Village is a long poem by Oliver Goldsmith that was first published in 1770. The poem details a once-lovely town by the name of Auburn. At one point, it was the speaker’s nostalgic paradise. Now, though, Auburn has been altered by greed and modernization, causing its residents to desert the hamlet—much to the speaker’s chagrin. It is a social commentary that condemns the migration of people from rural areas to developed cities and America in pursuit of excessive wealth. The poet also expressed his concerns over the effects of the agricultural revolution, which resulted in the enclosure of arable land, often to form private parks or gardens.

Structure of A Deserted Village:

It is a long poem containing 430 lines written in Heroic couplets, which are pairs of rhyming lines of iambic pentameter. A line of verse written in iambic pentameter contains five feet; each foot comprises an unstressed and stressed syllable. The poem has many stanzas of varied lengths, some are short while some are too long and appear like paragraphs. These stanzas begin and end as the subject matter changes.

"The Deserted Village" is narrated in the first person. The speaker reminisces about his childhood village and warns of changes brought about by commercialism. Goldsmith is also clear in his disapproval of the enclosures movement and describes the effects of commercialism on country life as farmland is purchased by the rich, forcing populations of entire villages to leave their rural lives. The poem follows a simple rhyming pattern of ‘AABBCC....’. The whole poem is written in the past tense. Goldsmith has used Alliteration in the first few stanzas ("humble happiness," "succeeding sports," "sweet succession," and "light labor”). Later in the poem, Goldsmith writes "sweet confusion sought the shade" and "whitewashed walls." Goldsmith has used an extended Metaphor to represent the situations of all villages using the fictional village Auburn. In addition, Goldsmith uses the image of a woman as a Metaphor for Auburn. First, the village is described as "some fair female, unadorned and plain." As people begin to leave, the metaphorical woman feels the loss: "Her friends, her virtue, fled." The fleeing "virtues" or "morals" signal the final transition, when that "wholesome" woman has now become a prostitute, leaving her "wheel and robes of country brown" in the place where "courtier[s] glitter in brocade."

The poem is a fine example of Georgic poetry as the subject of the poem is agriculture and rural life and the theme of the poem shows tension and concern. The themes of the poem include corruption and greed, the innocence of rural life, and resilience in the changing world. A Deserted Village is also a fine example of pastoral elegy that compares the village and rural life to innocence in contrast to the encroachment of industrialization that brought materialism and corruption to the people. The poet laments over the loss of innocence in the rural countryside which is heavily affected by the industrial revolution as reflected in the romanticized recollection of “Auburn” village. The village was able to sustain the life of the inhabitants with “health” and “innocence” in the absence of material wealth. This clearly reflects that the rustic life is a natural wealth and an abundance for the people but the coming of materialism has brought corruption and it has destroyed the innocence of the village. The poet also laments how trade, with its relentless pursuit of profit, has taken over the land and displaced the rural inhabitants.

Oliver Goldsmith belonged to the Neoclacissist authors of the Augustan era and the poem The Deserted Village is a prime example of Neoclassicist Augustan poetry. The poet expressed a balanced account of Auburn in its inhabited and deserted states, and in its employment of an authorly persona within the poem, it conforms to contemporary neoclassical conventions. In addition, Goldsmith emphasizes that this migration is led by greed and corruption and warns about the danger that England faced from its increase in wealth. It was believed that the decline of the Roman Empire was attributed to the growth of luxury and pride in Rome and the poet draws the parallel from that history.

Summary of The Deserted Village:

Lines 1-4

“Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain;

Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,

Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,

And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed”

The poet begins with a fantastic description of Auburn a fictional village. The speaker the beauty and serenity of Sweet Auburn, a village filled with health, abundance, and the joys of nature. Oliver Goldsmith belonged to Lissoy, an Irish village and it appears he had Lissoy in his mind while he wrote The Deserted Village. His own village transforms into ‘Sweet Auburn’ in his imagination expressing the combination of his Irish memories and English experiences.

Lines 5-34 

The speaker continues to remember their youthful days spent in his village, Auburn, where every scene used to bring happiness and innocence. They recall the cottages, farms, brooks, mills, and the church atop the hill, all surrounded by the charm of hawthorn bushes providing shade for conversations and love. The speaker fondly remembers the days when work turned into play, and the entire village gathered under the spreading tree to enjoy various sports and games. Laughter, competitions, and displays of strength filled the air, and each activity inspired the next. The village was a place of simple pleasures, where even toil could be enjoyed. However, sadly, all these cherished charms have now vanished.

Lines 35-46 

In these lines, the poet describes how Auburn, once a beautiful, ‘loveliest village in the plain’ changed with time. The speaker laments that the village’s sports and charms have disappeared. Between the cozy houses the speaker sees the effect of the "tyrant" and the "master" on the "smiling plain." In the presence of such evil, everyone has left the now-"desolate" village. The only guests are bittern birds that guard their nests with "hollow-sounding" calls. The speaker offers a picture of a village that has lost its vitality and joy, replaced by a sense of abandonment and decay.

Lines 47-52

“Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all,

And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall;

And trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand,

Far, far away thy children leave the land

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,

Where wealth accumulates, and men decay”

The once-cozy houses have sunken and molded. Everyone has left to chase wealth in the city, which the speaker calls the place where "men decay." The speaker mourns the loss of the village’s once thriving and prosperous state. The children of the land are forced to leave, seeking a better life elsewhere. The speaker expresses concern about the state of the country, where wealth accumulates while the people suffer.

Lines 53-74

In these lines, the speaker laments that the village—once filled with "bold peasantry" that was the "country's pride"—is now deserted. Princes and lords may come and go, but the true pride of a nation lies in its hardworking and resilient peasantry. Once destroyed, the loss of a strong and self-sufficient peasantry cannot be easily replaced. This, the speaker claims, is where "England's griefs began." People used to be happy simply when their needs were met, but with the rise of trade people longed for opulence and "unwieldy wealth." They longed to ease "every pang that folly pays to pride." This greed caused the decay of "rural mirth and manners." The speaker reminisces about a time when every piece of land could sustain its inhabitants, providing them with just enough to live a simple and content life. In that time, the people’s true wealth lay in their innocence, health, and the absence of excessive material wealth.

Lines 75-136

The speaker laments how trade, with its relentless pursuit of profit, has taken over the land and displaced the rural inhabitants. Once filled with simplicity and tranquility, the scattered hamlets have now been replaced by opulence and grandeur. Every desire is now linked to wealth, and every pain is the price paid for pride and foolishness. The peaceful and abundant hours, the contentment with little, and the joyful activities that once adorned the landscape have all vanished. They have sought refuge in kinder shores, leaving behind a void where rural happiness and customs no longer exist. These lines highlight the impact of commercialization and the loss of traditional rural life, where simplicity, contentment, and community were valued.

The speaker describes returning home after years away, taking "solitary rounds" amid the dangled walkways and "ruined grounds." All around him, he sees evidence of "the tyrant's power." Seeing how run-down the once beautiful village has become fills the speaker's heart with emotion. He had long wished to return to Auburn as an old man, but it is his greatest grief to realize this will be impossible. Again, the speaker recounts images of the happy, bustling village where children came singing from school, and even the noisy watchdogs, geese, and nightingales sounded like "sweet confusion." Now, the population has been displaced, leaving behind only a feeble "wretched matron" who forages for food and cries herself to sleep each night.

Lines 137-192

In these lines, the speaker recalls the village preacher. The place where his "modest mansion" once stood is now overgrown with wildflowers. He ran a "godly race" and was rewarded with a salary of £40 per year. The preacher never sought riches or fame—he only wanted to care for the wretched. He dedicated his life to easing others' pain, whether they were injured soldiers or ruined "spendthrifts." Regardless of the beggars' backgrounds, the preacher pitied and cared for them all: "He watched and wept, he prayed and felt, for all." His sermons were rousing—even fools who came to mock the church stayed to hear him. Everyone, from adults to children, longed to be near him.

Lines 193-250

In these lines, the speaker continues to remember the people he knew from the village. Near the church was a noisy school where a stern schoolmaster ruled strictly. The speaker knew the schoolmaster well, as did the rest of the village truants. Despite the schoolmaster's stern appearance, he was kind and loved to teach. The children, in rapt attention, used to wonder how much knowledge could be crammed into one man's head. But now no one remembers the schoolmaster's wisdom. The school, once lovingly cared for with "white-washed wall" and a "nicely sanded floor," now sinks into obscurity. It lies unused and forgotten, alongside every other pleasure of the village where the barber told tales, the woodsmen swapped stories, and "coy maids" passed drinks.

Lines 251-286

In these lines the speaker says that though he knows the rich mock his nostalgia for home, but this cruelty only makes him fonder of the "simple blessings" of his "lowly" beginnings. Everyone else seems to love the "gloss of art," working hard to obtain its expensive beauty. The speaker much prefers the beautiful images of memory that "lightly ... frolic" over his "vacant mind." He goes on to blame the rich for chasing "wanton wealth," claiming their greed hastens "the poor's decay." The rich must decide where to draw the line between a "splendid," or opulent, land and a happy one. The land is rich, and men come from around the world to plunder her spoils. In doing so, the rich expand their boundaries. They push away the poor to make more room for their horses and dogs. The rich rob their neighbors of half the silk in their fields simply to make themselves another robe. The land had enough riches for everyone to enjoy, but the wealthy stripped it barren for their own gain.

Lines 287-340

In these lines, the poet uses metaphor and compares the land to a young woman who needs no "adornment" to show off her beauty. As time passes, however, the land needs such adornment to maintain its charm, but it has been betrayed. There's no way of covering up the "impotence" and "decline" of its splendors that transformed the "smiling land" into a "scourged," or tortured, place. It has been transformed from a blooming garden to a blooming grave. The speaker wonders where the poor should live if the rich push them off their native land.

Lines 341-384 

The poor must travel through "dreary scenes" with "fainting steps." Eventually, they will arrive at "that horrid shore" that the speaker describes as if he were describing Hell: either some overcrowded city or some wilderness. To him, the city is a place where "birds forget to sing" and "the dark scorpion gathers death around." The speaker carefully contrasts this hellish scene with the "cooling brook" and "grassy vested green" of the village. He imagines what it might have been like for the traveling villagers to look upon their homes for the final time. He paints a heartbreaking scene of a family tearfully saying goodbye to each other.

Lines 385-430

In these lines, the speaker attacks materialism and curses luxury. People want luxury, leaving their "pleasures" behind to seek its "insidious joy." Even as the speaker stands now, he can see "the rural virtues leave the land." He recalls days of "contented toil" and "hospitable care" when people worked hard and were kind to each other. They were pious, faithful, and loving, but now they are greedy and cruel. The speaker feels a sense of shame at the way the villagers have changed. Finally, he says goodbye to the village of his memory, with the hopes that time might "redress the rigors of the inclement clime" and bring both truth and humility back to the land.

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