A Sheep Fair

A Sheep Fair

By Thomas Hardy

The day arrives of the autumn fair,
And torrents fall,
Though sheep in throngs are gathered there,
Ten thousand all,
Sodden, with hurdles round them reared:
And, lot by lot, the pens are cleared,
And the auctioneer wrings out his beard,
And wipes his book, bedrenched and smeared,
And rakes the rain from his face with the edge of his hand,
As torrents fall.

The wool of the ewes is like a sponge
With the daylong rain:
Jammed tight, to turn, or lie, or lunge,
They strive in vain.
Their horns are soft as finger-nails,
Their shepherds reek against the rails,
The tied dogs soak with tucked-in tails,
The buyers’ hat-brims fill like pails,
Which spill small cascades when they shift their stand
In the daylong rain.

POSTSCRIPT
Time has trailed lengthily since met
At Pummery Fair
Those panting thousands in their wet
And woolly wear:
And every flock long since has bled,
And all the dripping buyers have sped,
And the hoarse auctioneer is dead,
Who ‘Going – going I’ so often said,
As he consigned to doom each meek, mewed band
At Pummery Fair.

Summary of A Sheep Fair

• Popularity of “A Sheep Fair”: “A Sheep Fair” by Thomas Hardy, a great English poet and author, is a reflective poem. The poem presents a vivid description of a sheep fair held during autumn season. It also highlights how people living in the countryside make their living by trading animals. Although many years have passed since the writer has penned down these lines, the description of people living in the countryside is still relatable.
• “A Sheep Fair” As a Representative of Time: This beautiful poem describes the “Pummery fair” held in the countryside. It begins with the description of terrible weather on the day of this gala event. All in the fair, including sheep, auctioneer, and the attendees, are completely drenched in the rain. Even though the weather is unfavorable, everyone must show their presence to buy and sell. Throughout the poem, Hardy describes how people manage to show up in worse conditions as the multitude of sheep packed in confine while thousands of people pressed together uncomfortably.The speaker ends this poem with a postscript that looks back to when this fair used to be held. He remembers all that happened that day and states now all sheep, auctioneers, and attendees are a part of history. 
• Major Themes in “A Sheep Fair”: Living standards of country life, the transience of time and unkind nature are the major themes of the poem. The poem is divided into two parts, where first part primarily focused on the sheep fair and the second part reflects upon the memory of that fair. The first two paragraph presents a hectic day in the life of someone living in countryside. It seems that this day carries significance for the people as they do not care about the rainy weather and gather at the spot for the purpose. After presenting minute details of the event, the speaker ends this poem with a postscript that shows the transience of life. He talks about the bitter reality that no matter how hard we strive to win a prosperous life, one day every living creature has to taste death.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “A Sheep Fair”

literary devices give layers of meaning to a simple poem. They enhance the poem’s actual meanings. The analysis of the literary devices used in this poem is as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ and /o/ “Jammed tight, to turn, or lie, or lunge” and again the sound of /e/ in “Time has trailed lengthily since met.”
2. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. Hardy has repeated the word “and” in the last stanza of the poem to emphasize the point such as;

“And every flock long since has bled,
And all the dripping buyers have sped,
And the hoarse auctioneer is dead.”

3. Allegory: It is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events. This is an allegorical poem that speaks the transience of life.
4. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /b/ in “book, bedrenched.”
5. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /n/ in “Those panting thousands in their wet” and the sound of /t/ in “Time has trailed lengthily since met.”
6. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example:

“Time has trailed lengthily since met
At Pummery Fair
Those panting thousands in their wet
And woolly wear.”

7. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Thomas Hardy has used imagery in this poem such as “Which spill small cascades when they shift their stand”, “And every flock long since has bled,” and “Their horns are soft as finger-nails.”
8. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poet has used the extended metaphor of time to show how it passes quickly, leaving a lasting memory behind.
9. Simile: It is a device used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Hardy has used this device in the second stanza of the poem such as “Their horns are soft as finger-nails.”
10. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings from literal meanings. The poem shows symbols like sadness, struggle and hardships to show the survival of the people living in countryside.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “A Sheep Fair”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Diction and Tone: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetoric devices, symbolism, and impressive images. However, its tone is simple and rustic.
2. End Rhyme: End Rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Thomas Hardy has used end rhyme in this poem such as “met/wet”, “dead/said” and “fall/all.”
3. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABABCCCCDB rhyme scheme and this pattern continues until the end.
4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in the poem with each having the same number of verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from the poem, “Sheep Fair” are useful to quote while talking about the people living in countryside and how they work hard on their animals and farms.

“The day arrives of the autumn fair,
And torrents fall,
Though sheep in throngs are gathered there,
Ten thousand all.”