Impulse vs. Consequence: Analyzing Housman’s "Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree"

The human experience is often a tug-of-war between reason and impulse. While spontaneity can occasionally lead to joy, A.E. Housman’s haunting poem, "Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree," serves as a grim manifesto on the darker side of human nature. It illustrates with chilling clarity how a single, impulsive moment of violence can dismantle a life, a family, and a future with surgical precision.

Through the voice of a young man fleeing his home after murdering his brother, Housman explores the "disastrous effects" mentioned in your prompt—not just as physical consequences, but as an all-encompassing spiritual and social exile.

The Instant of No Return: The Physicality of Impulse

The most immediate and "disastrous" effect of an impulsive action is its irreversibility. Housman does not provide a backstory for the conflict between the narrator and his brother, Maurice. There is no long-winded explanation of a rivalry or a detailed account of a provocation. This omission suggests that the act was not a calculated plot, but a sudden eruption of temper.

The poem opens with a stark, brutal image:

"And Maurice amongst the hay lies still / And my knife is in his side."

The word "still" is heavy with the weight of finality. In the blink of an eye, a living, breathing brother—a companion in labor and life—has been reduced to a corpse in a hayfield. The mention of the "knife" being "in his side" underscores the intimacy and suddenness of the violence. It is a handheld weapon, requiring close proximity, suggesting a heat-of-the-moment struggle where impulse overrode the biological and moral bond of brotherhood. The disaster here is total: one life is ended, and the other is effectively ruined, proving that a few seconds of surrendered self-control can rewrite a person's destiny forever.

The Ruin of the Domestic Sphere

Impulsive actions rarely harm only the perpetrator and the victim; they ripple outward, poisoning the lives of those left behind. Perhaps the most heartbreaking "disastrous effect" in the poem is the destruction of the mother’s world.

The narrator reflects on the mundane reality his mother is currently inhabiting, unaware that her world has already ended:

"My mother thinks us long away; / 'Tis time the field were mown. / She had two sons at rising day, / To-night she'll be alone"

The irony here is agonizing. The mother is operating on the cycle of the seasons—Lammastide, mowing, herding—expecting her two sons to return for dinner and work. The impulsive murder has not just killed one son; it has effectively "killed" the other, as the narrator must flee to avoid the gallows.

The disaster for the mother is a double bereavement. She loses Maurice to the earth and the narrator to the "long road." The narrator acknowledges this impending domestic collapse when he says:

"And long will stand the empty plate, / And dinner will be cold."

The structure of the family unit, built on shared labor and the rhythm of the farm, is shattered. The "barn and stack and tree" are no longer symbols of home, but monuments to a life the narrator can no longer claim.

The Social Death: Exile and the Loss of Friendship

Impulse often acts as a thief of community. In the poem, the narrator is speaking to his friend, Terence. This conversation serves as a final goodbye to the social structures that define a man’s identity in a rural setting.

The narrator’s realization that he can no longer participate in the joys of his peers is a significant disastrous effect:

"I wish you luck, come Lammastide, / At racing on the green."

By giving in to a violent impulse, the narrator has excommunicated himself. He can no longer attend the "market" or the "fair," the very places where social bonds are forged and celebrated. His impulsive act has turned him from a member of a community into a fugitive, a "bloody" ghost who must walk the world alone.

The contrast between the "luck" he wishes Terence and the doom he carries himself highlights the divergence of their paths. One impulsive act has created a wall between the narrator and the rest of humanity. He is now a man with "no name" and "no place," proving that a moment's loss of temper can lead to a lifetime of solitude.

The Psychological Burden: The Stain of Blood

The psychological "disaster" of impulse is the permanent stain it leaves on the soul. Housman uses the physical act of a handshake to symbolize the narrator’s transition from a friend to a pariah.

The narrator says:

"Terrance, look your last at me, / For I come home no more / And here's a bloody hand to shake."

While the blood may be literal, it is also metaphorical. The "bloody" hand represents the narrator’s new identity. He is now defined by his crime. The impulsive nature of the act likely makes the guilt even harder to bear because there was no "grand reason" for it—just a flash of red mist and a knife.

The disaster here is the loss of the "self." The man who used to mow the fields and shear the sheep is gone, replaced by a murderer. This internal transformation is a prison of its own, one that the narrator will inhabit regardless of where he flees. The impulsive action didn't just change his location; it changed his very essence.

The Contrast of Nature vs. Human Finality

Housman masterfully uses the backdrop of the English countryside to emphasize the disaster. Nature is cyclical; humans are linear. The "barn," the "stack," and the "tree" will remain. The "Lammastide" will return every year. The sheep will always need shearing.

However, because of his impulsive act, the narrator is severed from these natural cycles:

"Farewell to barn and stack and tree, / Farewell to Severn shore,"

By calling his crime "ill-luck," the narrator might be trying to distance himself from the responsibility, but the "disaster" remains. The "Severn shore" and the "barn" represent stability and the "good life." The impulsive action has turned these symbols of peace into symbols of what has been lost. The disaster is not just the death of a man, but the death of a way of life that was supposed to last for generations.

Conclusion: The Heavy Price of a Single Moment

A.E. Housman’s "Farewell to Barn and Stack and Tree" is a chilling reminder that our lives are often balanced on the edge of a knife. The poem proves that impulsive actions are like a fire in a dry field—they start in a second but leave behind a landscape of ash.

The "disastrous effects" evidenced in the poem include:

1. The loss of life: Maurice's "still" body in the hay.

2. The destruction of family: A mother left to grieve two sons in different ways.

3. The death of identity: A farmer turned into a fugitive.

4. The loss of community: The inability to ever again join the "market and the fair."

Ultimately, Housman suggests that the "barn and stack and tree"—the things that take years to build and grow—can be lost in the time it takes to draw a breath. It is a cautionary tale that resonates across centuries: the cost of a momentary impulse is often a price that no human can truly afford to pay.

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