Critical Analysis/Appreciation of ‘The Deserted Village’ of Oliver Goldsmith

Introduction

The Deserted Village; a pastoral elegy written by Oliver Goldsmith was first published in the year 1770. This was a seminal poem of Oliver Goldsmith. It expresses grief of the poet regarding destruction of rural life (his childhood home) due to usurpation of common land by big land owners to increase the production. It made the villagers migrate to urban areas to find work which made their life miserable.

Central Idea

The poem centralizes on the destruction of the rural life when in search of occupation villagers migrated to urban areas as the common land or pastor land was occupied by large land owners. So the poet is expressing his grief on this development to his childhood home. He becomes nostalgic and recalls how the village was a happy place during his childhood.

Summary

Prosperous and happy rural life

The poem starts with the description of the prime time of poet’s village Auburn, it’s joys, past times and natural beauty. Young boys and girls used to get immense happiness by humble games. The poet is missing those past times and mentioning how often he roam on the green space. He is still mesmerized by the every scene whether it’s ‘sheltered cot’, ‘cultivated farm’, running brooks or ‘busy mill’. He recalls all those shady places where youth spent their time and lovers were found whispering. Youth used to challenge each other in dancing and lovers try to steal glances from matrons.

Desolation of rural life due to pursuit of wealth

But all these charms are fled now. There is usurpation of village peace by industrialisation and urbanisation. Agricultural common land usurped by wealthy landlords and people migrated to cities for better opportunities of earning. Now wealth is getting accumulated but men are decaying. The bold peasantry of England is destroyed and along with it innocence and health related to rural life is destroyed too. Rural people’s best wealth was ignorance of wealth which is no more now as they have migrated to cities for wealth.

Desire to return

The poet further explains that there is only wealth and pomp everywhere now and all the connections with the village and the nature have lost. The glades; the treeless areas inside the forest are all vacant. There used to be a rising murmur over the hill, the geese were found playing on the pool, children came out of the school in playfulness and the milkmaid were commonly found singing. But now the village is empty. But the poet has a desire that he should return to this place and die here at his home.

The Village preacher

The poet explains about the house of the village Preacher. Who kept the door of the house open for everyone. His house was destination for every wounded soul whether it was a beggar or injured soldiers. He was not very rich but a great human being by heart. He was not fond of power or wealth. He had such a unique nature that he used to forgot vices in front of the woes of those who visited his house. He used to feel immense happiness in relieving wretched souls. It was common to found him beside the bed of the departing soul.

The Village Teacher

The poet explains the village teacher. His House was a noisy one as children used to study there. The teacher was strict from outside but used to pass on various jokes on children. He was a well learned men in the views of villages. He could write had knowledge of numbers and can measure land also and villagers used to surprise that how much a small head can store this much. But now that place is forgotten.

The Inn

The poet describes the inn where villagers used to gather. It was a place where they used to retire for conversations and drinking. This place looked like a festive one. This place was designed an unique manner. The walls were decorated with pictures and furniture was two in one such as bed in night and drawer in day. Now this please has become desolate as there is no news about farmers or tale of barber is heard there.

The fake Splendor

The things which are hated by the rich and boastful people are the real treasures of a common rural person. The poet feels that these are more dear to his heart. Now the life has changed a lot and the toil has transformed into pain. The world’s fashionable things try to lure now but the poet ask if these things are the real joy. The rich peoples’ Joy has increased and the poor ones’ declined and it is the difference between a splendid and happy land. The rich are growing on the land which was left by the rural people. Now the world is producing and supplying every product of luxury but all the Splendor on the Barren land is bound to fall. As a lady with her own beauty attracts the youth and the dress complements her but when her beauty fades the dress is proved a failure. Similarly the land which had natural luxury earlier was betrayed by this fake Splendor now that natural luxury will rise again.

Miserable life at the new place

The poet explains the miserable life when the people migrated to the new place. This place might be at some part of England or America. The woman who was quite well versed at the village left the village for developed life in the urban world is bound to beg at the door of the other people. She has lost everything her friends and her village life and now deploring on that luckless hour when she left the village. The new land is extremely hot and their are other dangers also such as animals, snakes and tornadoes. This new place has everything different from the earlier times at village. They used to have cool breeze and spring, green planes and harmless love at the village. What disastrous decision they took when they left the village.

Addresses his poetry

The poet addresses his poetry that these are the times of degeneration where it is hard for honest work to get the fame but still poet believes that he has written everything he wanted and now bidding farewell to it. Now wherever you will be read dear poetry whether it’s at the equator’s hot temperature or poles’ extreme cold or at Torno’s cliff and Pambamarca’s side you will be appreciated.

Self dependency is the solution

The poet concludes the poem by an idea that this empire of trade is bound to fall if people find the way to get the livelihood at the own place instead of migrating to urban areas. The self dependency is the solution of this problem.

Themes

1. Beauty of rural life – The poem talks about the beauty of rural life such as flowing brooks, cool breeze, green fields, hidden glades and lot of places to sit and talk with friends and lovers. There is no negativity and fake development like urban world. Human cohabits with the nature.
2. Negatives of industrialisation and commercialisation – The poem explains how industrialisation or commercialisation of land by increasing average land holding by a landlord through bringing common land under their control brings to degradation of the rural life. People are forced to migrate and their life became miserable at new place. They started to miss their village life which is lost forever.
3. Migration – Migration is a very strong thing of this poem. When landlords captured the common land people dependent on that land were forced to leave the village and ended up in miserable urban life.
4. Self dependency – The poet has given a solution to this problem at the end of the poem that when people started to produce requisite things at their own place and make themselves self dependent this issue of migration won’t come.

Literary Devices

1. Alliteration – ‘humble happiness’, ‘simply sought’, ‘sweet succession’, ‘works it’s weedy way’, ‘hare whom hounds and horns pursue’ etc. in which there is repetition of consonant sounds at the starting of a world. Hence these are alliteration examples.
2. Assonance – ‘Similing spring’ has vowel /e/ sound repetition. Hence it is assonance.
3. Simile – ‘Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn’ has simile as beautiful women is compared to a Primrose flower.
4. Metaphor – Auburn village is a metaphor for decline of rural life and ‘tyrant’ is used for landowners.
5. Pathetic Fallacy – Smiling spring, sweet smiling village etc. has shown emotions in non human things hence these are examples of pathetic Fallacy.

Sentimentality and Melancholic

Goldsmith’s language is deeply sentimental, filled with nostalgia for a simpler past. His emotional tone, rich imagery, and pathetic fallacy (e.g., “smiling spring”) make the poem a compelling lament rather than a detached analysis. While this sentimentality was praised in his time, later critics, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, viewed it as excessive and unrealistic.

Critique of Economic and social life

Oliver Goldsmith criticizes the enclosure movement which triggered privatization common land which increased private profits of the people at the expense of larger humanity.

Structure and Rhyming scheme

The poem is completely a single unit and not divided into stanzas. It is written in rhyming couplets with rhyme scheme of AABB throughout the poem.

For my other posts on western poetry click here and for Indian poetry click here

Copyright Our Guruji 2025. All Rights are Reserved.