The Deserted Village

Goldsmith’s poem mourning the village of Auburn, once happy and now emptied of its people, who have been driven away by wealth and enclosure.

Start reading2 parts, about 3,800 words

Famous lines

• Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
  Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
  Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
  A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
  But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,
  When once destroyed, can never be supplied.

  The Deserted VillageIn context

  • Economics
  • Money

• Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway,
  And fools, who came to scoff, remain’d to pray.

  The Deserted VillageIn context

  • Prayer
  • Religion

• In arguing too, the parson owned his skill,
  For e’en tho’ vanquished, he could argue still;
  While words of learned length, and thundering sound,
  Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around;
  And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew,
  That one small head could carry all he knew.

  The Deserted VillageIn context

  • Debate
  • Education
  • Knowledge

Contents

1. Dedication
2. The Deserted Village