The Lammas Hireling is a contemporary poem written by British poet Ian Duhig. The poem is a dramatic monologue and employs the perspective of an Irish farmer during the Lammas Harvest (celebrating the harvesting of wheat).
The poem begins with an Irish farmer employing a young man – known as a ‘hireling’ – to help him out with the harvest. However, not all is what it seems, as the hireling is actually a witch that transforms into a hare. The farmer shoots the hireling but this causes him to heavily suffer from guilt and he confesses his crime to a priest.
Duhig is a celebrated poet and has won a Forward Prize and the National Poetry Competition in 1987 and 2000. His work has also led to being shortlisted three times for the T S Eliot Prize.
