Lying in a Hammock...

Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy's Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota

1. The speaker is relaxing in a hammock and observing all the different sights and sounds of a farm.

2. The person in the hammock is a guest on the farm. He is very observant, and knows a little bit about how the farm works and what is going on. This person didn't grow up on a farm, but never the less has learned a few things from just being there.

3. I arrived at the conclusion that the speaker is a guest on the farm from both the title ("...William Duffy's farm...") and the fact that this person is relaxing in a hammock. Having a farm involves a lot of work, and the people who own/run the farm get as much work done as they can throughout the day. As for my conclusion about the speaker being observant, he notices things like the color of a butterfly (bronze) and the color of the trunk that it lands on (black). He hears cowbells and recognizes that they are going into the distance, and he notices even something seemingly insignificant like horse droppings. The person knows how the farm works because he knows the house is empty, and everyone is out working. He also knows that the cows are being put out to pasture for the night ("The cowbells follow one another; Into the distances of the afternoon."), and that the horse droppings are from last year, which is something a lot of people might not notice.

4. The title tells us what the speaker is doing (lying in a hammock), where he is (Pine Island, Minnesota), who he is visiting (William Duffy), and what kind of setting he is in (on a farm).

5. The speaker is very tuned in with the nature around him. He notices the colors of things, and what they remind him of. Instead of saying the butterfly is fluttering its wings, he says it is "blowing like a leaf in green shadow", and he says the horse droppings "blaze up into golden stones."

6. In this poem, the speaker is not only describing what he sees and hears, but he is also conveying what he feels through these sights and sounds. When he talks about "blowing like a leaf" it could be a reference to how his own life is unsteady. He speaks of the ravine and the empty house which could also be connected the way he feels about himself. By definition, a ravine is a gully that has been hollowed out by passing water. It is possible that something that the speaker had and has since passed him by has left him feeling hollow and empty like the house. When the speaker ends the poem with "A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.", it could be telling us how the speaker is feeling about himself, like he doesn't feel that he fits in, and that is where the connection is. The speaker is looking for a place that is right for him.