“The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan: A Critical Analysis

Introduction: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

“The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan first appeared in the early 20th century, likely in her 1908 collection Shingle Short and Other Verses, which explored the settler experience in colonial New Zealand. This evocative dramatic monologue reflects on the emotional and physical toll of pioneering life. The poem’s enduring popularity lies in its unflinching portrayal of hardship and loss—the speaker recounts fifteen years of toil only to yield “eleven-fifty” sheep from the “over five thousand” he once had, symbolizing the harsh realities of frontier farming. Through vivid imagery of a relentless landscape—“the grass burnt shiny,” “the creek dried up,” and the “briar, tauhinu, an’ ruin”—Baughan captures both the hostility of the environment and the depth of emotional attachment. The final stanza, where the narrator bids farewell to a land that “cut as keen as a knife,” reveals how personal identity becomes entangled with place. Balancing bitterness and beauty, the poem resonates as a powerful elegy to perseverance, grief, and the complex legacy of colonization.

Text: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

SO the last day’s come at last, the close of my fifteen year—
The end of the hope, an’ the struggles, an’ messes I’ve put in here.
All of the shearings over, the final mustering done,—
Eleven hundred an’ fifty for the incoming man, near on.
Over five thousand I drove ’em, mob by mob, down the coast;
Eleven-fifty in fifteen year…it isn’t much of a boast.

Oh, it’s a bad old place! Blown out o’ your bed half the nights,
And in the summer the grass burnt shiny an’ bare as your hand, on the heights:
The creek dried up by November, and in May a thundering roar
That carries down toll o’ your stock to salt ’em whole on the shore.
Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d, yet everywhere, slap in your face,
Briar, tauhinu, 1 an’ ruin! God! it’s a brute of a place.
…An’ the house got burnt which I built, myself, with all that worry and pride;
Where the Missus was always homesick, and where she took fever, and died.

Yes, well! I’m leaving the place. Apples look red on that bough.
I set the slips with my own hand. Well—they’re the other man’s now.
The breezy bluff: an’ the clover that smells so over the land,
Drowning the reek o’ the rubbish, that plucks the profit out o’ your hand:
That bit o’ Bush paddock I fall’d myself, an’ watch’d, each year, come clean
(Don’t it look fresh in the tawny? A scrap of Old-Country green):
This air, all healthy with sun an’ salt, an’ bright with purity:
An’ the glossy karakas 2 there, twinkling to the big blue twinkling sea:
Aye, the broad blue sea beyond, an’ the gem-clear cove below,
Where the boat I’ll never handle again; sits rocking to and fro:
There’s the last look to it all! an’ now for the last upon
This room, where Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died, an’ John…
Well! I’m leaving the poor old place, and it cuts as keen as a knife;
The place that’s broken my heart—the place where I’ve lived my life.

Annotations: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

Original Line	Simple Meaning	Literary Devices
SO the last day’s come at last, the close of my fifteen year—	The final day has finally arrived after 15 years here.	Repetition (“last”), Alliteration
The end of the hope, an’ the struggles, an’ messes I’ve put in here.	It’s the end of all the hope, hard work, and mistakes I made.	Tricolon, Consonance
All of the shearings over, the final mustering done,—	All sheep shearing and rounding up are finished.	Synecdoche (shearings = work), Alliteration
Eleven hundred an’ fifty for the incoming man, near on.	I’m handing over 1,150 sheep to the next owner.	Ellipsis (implied regret), Irony
Over five thousand I drove ’em, mob by mob, down the coast;	I once had over 5,000 sheep and moved them group by group.	Hyperbole, Repetition
Eleven-fifty in fifteen year…it isn’t much of a boast.	Only 1,150 left after 15 years—nothing to be proud of.	Irony, Ellipsis
Oh, it’s a bad old place! Blown out o’ your bed half the nights,	The weather is so bad it blows you out of bed many nights.	Exclamation, Hyperbole
And in the summer the grass burnt shiny an’ bare as your hand, on the heights:	In summer, the hills have no grass, just shiny bare ground.	Simile (“bare as your hand”)
The creek dried up by November, and in May a thundering roar	The creek has no water by November, and floods in May.	Juxtaposition, Onomatopoeia (“roar”)
That carries down toll o’ your stock to salt ’em whole on the shore.	The flood drowns animals and washes them to the salty shore.	Imagery, Irony
Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d, yet everywhere, slap in your face,	I’ve cleared land again and again, but nature keeps fighting back.	Repetition, Personification (“slap in your face”)
Briar, tauhinu, an’ ruin! God! it’s a brute of a place.	Weeds and ruins have taken over—it’s a terrible place.	Exclamation, Alliteration
…An’ the house got burnt which I built, myself, with all that worry and pride;	The house I built with pride burned down.	Irony, Pathos
Where the Missus was always homesick, and where she took fever, and died.	My wife was never happy here and died of illness.	Tragedy, Tone shift
Yes, well! I’m leaving the place. Apples look red on that bough.	I’m leaving. The apples look ripe on the tree.	Symbolism (red apples = fruit of labor), Irony
I set the slips with my own hand. Well—they’re the other man’s now.	I planted those trees, but someone else will enjoy them.	Irony, Metonymy
The breezy bluff: an’ the clover that smells so over the land,	The windy hill and clover smell strongly in the air.	Sensory imagery, Alliteration
Drowning the reek o’ the rubbish, that plucks the profit out o’ your hand:	The sweet smells cover the stench of waste that ruins profits.	Metaphor, Alliteration
That bit o’ Bush paddock I fall’d myself, an’ watch’d, each year, come clean	I cleared that bit of land and watched it grow better each year.	Personal narrative, Symbolism
(Don’t it look fresh in the tawny? A scrap of Old-Country green):	Doesn’t it look green among the brown? Like the English countryside.	Contrast, Symbolism
This air, all healthy with sun an’ salt, an’ bright with purity:	The air here is clean and fresh with sunlight and sea salt.	Sensory imagery, Alliteration
An’ the glossy karakas there, twinkling to the big blue twinkling sea:	The shiny karaka trees sparkle like the sea behind them.	Alliteration, Visual imagery
Aye, the broad blue sea beyond, an’ the gem-clear cove below,	The wide blue sea and the beautiful clear bay beneath.	Metaphor, Assonance
Where the boat I’ll never handle again; sits rocking to and fro:	My boat sits unused now, gently rocking.	Symbolism, Irony
There’s the last look to it all! an’ now for the last upon	This is my final look at everything here.	Repetition (“last”), Pathos
This room, where Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died, an’ John…	This room saw both joyful and tragic moments of my life.	Juxtaposition, Ellipsis
Well! I’m leaving the poor old place, and it cuts as keen as a knife;	Leaving this place hurts deeply.	Simile (“cuts as keen as a knife”)
The place that’s broken my heart—the place where I’ve lived my life.	It broke me, but it was my whole life.	Repetition, Paradox

Literary And Poetic Devices: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

Device	Example from the Poem	Explanation
Alliteration 🔁	“Blown out o’ your bed half the nights”	Repetition of the ‘b’ sound emphasizes the chaos and discomfort of the setting.
Assonance 🎵	“broad blue sea”	Repetition of vowel sounds creates musicality and softness in contrast to harsh realities.
Contrast ⚖️	“Don’t it look fresh in the tawny?”	The green patch contrasts the dry land, symbolizing brief hope amid hardship.
Diction 📝	Words like “an’, o’, mob, brute”	Colloquial and rustic language shapes the character’s authentic rural voice.
Ellipsis …	“and John…”	The trailing off implies a painful memory too hard to articulate.
Exclamation ❗	“God! it’s a brute of a place.”	Intensifies emotional expression and the speaker’s frustration.
Hyperbole 🔥	“Over five thousand I drove ’em”	An exaggeration to highlight the speaker’s immense labor and sacrifice.
Imagery 🌄	“clover that smells so over the land”	Sensory description immerses readers in the rural, natural environment.
Irony 🎭	“it isn’t much of a boast”	Understatement reveals the speaker’s disappointment after years of toil.
Juxtaposition 🔄	“Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died”	Life and death placed together emphasize emotional complexity.
Metaphor 🌱	“plucks the profit out o’ your hand”	Loss is described as being forcefully taken—suggests betrayal by the land.
Metonymy 🧤	“slips with my own hand”	“Hand” symbolizes physical labor and personal investment in the land.
Onomatopoeia 🔊	“a thundering roar”	Mimics the flood’s sound to intensify the dramatic effect.
Paradox ♾️	“The place that’s broken my heart—the place where I’ve lived my life.”	Reflects the contradiction of loving a place that caused suffering.
Pathos 💔	“the Missus… took fever, and died”	Elicits sympathy by highlighting personal tragedy.
Personification 🧍	“slap in your face”	Nature is described as acting against the speaker, deepening conflict.
Repetition 🔄	“clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d”	Stresses the relentless and futile effort of clearing the land.
Simile 🟰	“bare as your hand”, “cuts as keen as a knife”	Compares land and emotion to familiar experiences, enhancing relatability.
Symbolism 🕊️	“apples look red on that bough”	Apples symbolize the fruit of labor now belonging to someone else.
Tone Shift 🎭➡️🎭	From anger to nostalgia and grief	Shifts in tone mirror the speaker’s emotional journey through loss and memory.

Themes: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

🌾 1. Struggle and Futility of Pioneer Labor: In “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan, a major theme is the immense physical and emotional toll of pioneering, paired with a sense of futility. The speaker recounts fifteen years of backbreaking work only to hand over “eleven hundred an’ fifty” sheep to the incoming man—down from the “over five thousand” he once managed. His tone is marked by bitterness and disappointment, admitting “it isn’t much of a boast.” The repeated clearing of land (“Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d”) only to face nature’s return (“briar, tauhinu, an’ ruin”) symbolizes how human effort is constantly undermined by the land’s harshness. The poem presents pioneering as not just physically taxing but also emotionally depleting, revealing the limited rewards and constant resistance faced by early settlers.

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💔 2. Loss, Grief, and Emotional Attachment: Another deeply resonant theme in “The Old Place” is the emotional burden of loss—both personal and generational. The poem weaves grief into nearly every stanza, with the speaker mourning the loss of his wife who “took fever, and died” in the very house he built “with all that worry and pride.” This house, now burned down, becomes a symbol of shattered dreams. Even more poignant is the final stanza where the speaker recalls, “This room, where Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died, an’ John…” showing how the home holds layers of joy and tragedy. His farewell—“it cuts as keen as a knife”—speaks to the deep emotional ties to a place defined not just by toil but by life-shaping events. Despite its cruelty, the land has become an inseparable part of his inner world.

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🌿 3. The Harshness and Beauty of Nature: In “The Old Place”, Blanche Edith Baughan explores the dual nature of the land—both brutal and beautiful. On one hand, nature is described as an adversary: “Blown out o’ your bed half the nights,” “the creek dried up,” and floods that “salt ’em whole on the shore” suggest an environment that punishes rather than nurtures. Yet, in stark contrast, the speaker also sees great beauty: “clover that smells so over the land,” “the broad blue sea beyond,” and “gem-clear cove below.” These images show a landscape that is physically demanding but still capable of evoking awe and longing. This tension creates a theme of natural ambivalence, where the land is both a destroyer and a source of spiritual richness. The beauty is not redemptive—it deepens the sense of loss as he prepares to leave.

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🏡 4. Belonging, Identity, and the Meaning of Home: “The Old Place” also reflects on the theme of belonging—how deeply identity is tied to place. Though the speaker expresses resentment (“God! it’s a brute of a place”), he also reveals an unshakable bond with the land. He remembers planting “the slips with my own hand,” felling the Bush paddock, and watching it “come clean.” These acts of cultivation are metaphors for a life spent shaping and being shaped by place. Even as he prepares to leave, there’s an undeniable sense of rootlessness—he’s leaving behind not just land, but his history, his family’s memories, and his sense of self. The pain of leaving “the place that’s broken my heart—the place where I’ve lived my life” emphasizes that home is not defined by comfort or success, but by emotional investment, memory, and lived experience.

Literary Theories and “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

📚 Literary Theory	🔍 Application to “The Old Place”	📜 Poem References
🧠 Psychological Theory	This theory focuses on the internal struggles of the speaker. The monologue reveals unresolved grief, disillusionment, and emotional trauma. His conflicting feelings—resentment and love—show a fractured psyche coping with personal loss.	“the Missus… took fever, and died”; “the place that’s broken my heart”; “cuts as keen as a knife”
🌍 Postcolonial Theory	Examines the settler-colonial experience and tension between colonizer and land. The speaker attempts to control and “clear” the land, but the environment resists him, suggesting nature’s rejection of colonization. The poem critiques the settler myth of mastery and prosperity.	“Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d… briar, tauhinu, an’ ruin”; “a brute of a place”
🏡 Ecocriticism	Focuses on human interaction with nature. The poem presents nature as both sublime and destructive, revealing an ambivalent relationship. It critiques exploitation while admiring natural beauty, exploring ecological consequences of farming and clearing land.	“burnt shiny an’ bare as your hand”; “the glossy karakas… twinkling to the big blue sea”
👥 Marxist Theory	Interprets the poem in terms of labor, class, and economic struggle. The speaker reflects on years of hard work with little return—symbolizing how the laboring individual is alienated from both product and place in a capitalistic frontier economy.	“Eleven hundred an’ fifty… it isn’t much of a boast”; “plucks the profit out o’ your hand”

Critical Questions about “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

🧠 1. How does Baughan explore the emotional cost of colonial life in “The Old Place”?

In “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan, the emotional cost of colonial life is depicted as profound and scarring. The speaker’s fifteen years of effort have yielded not fulfillment, but heartbreak: “it cuts as keen as a knife.” The pioneering life is shown to demand relentless labor with little reward—“Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d,” yet all is overrun by “briar, tauhinu, an’ ruin.” The grief of losing loved ones to the land adds a heavy emotional burden—his wife dies of fever in the house he built, and his memories of children born and lost (“Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died”) anchor him to the place in sorrow. Rather than idealizing the colonial dream, Baughan gives voice to the often-silenced anguish of settlers whose lives were consumed by the harshness of the environment and the demands of survival.

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🌿 2. In what ways does nature function as both antagonist and source of beauty in “The Old Place”?

“The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan presents nature as a force that is simultaneously cruel and breathtaking. Nature is the antagonist in the poem, sabotaging the speaker’s hard work: “the grass burnt shiny an’ bare,” “the creek dried up,” and floods that “salt ’em whole on the shore.” These images emphasize destruction and resistance to human control. However, the poem also captures stunning beauty: the “breezy bluff,” the “clover that smells,” the “broad blue sea,” and the “gem-clear cove.” These scenes are filled with affection and awe, suggesting that despite its hostility, nature remains emotionally captivating. The conflicting imagery contributes to a deeper theme: the land defies domination but still holds the power to enchant. Baughan uses this duality to reflect the settler’s complex relationship with the environment—rooted in both reverence and resentment.

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🏚️ 3. What does “The Old Place” suggest about the idea of home and belonging?

In “The Old Place”, Blanche Edith Baughan uses the speaker’s conflicted farewell to explore the fragile nature of home and belonging. Though he calls it a “bad old place” and admits it has “broken [his] heart,” he is still deeply tied to it. The repetition of “my”—“my Mary,” “my own hand”—emphasizes personal investment in the land, family, and labor. Yet now, it all belongs to “the other man.” This dislocation underscores a central tension: home is built through memory, loss, and effort, not ownership. Even as he departs, the speaker clings to sensory impressions—the smell of clover, the shine of karaka leaves, the sight of his rocking boat. Baughan suggests that belonging is emotional and temporal, not permanent. A place can be yours in spirit even as you are forced to leave it behind.

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💀 4. How does the poem address the passage of time and personal mortality?

“The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan offers a poignant meditation on time and mortality, filtered through the speaker’s reflection at the end of a life chapter. The phrase “the last day’s come at last” sets the tone of finality. He looks back on years of work, failed crops, family loss, and fleeting moments of beauty, realizing how little remains—“Eleven-fifty in fifteen year…it isn’t much of a boast.” The imagery of death is deeply personal: the wife who “took fever, and died,” the room “where Hetty was born, an’ my Mary died, an’ John…” These memories reveal time’s relentless toll, collapsing years of joy and sorrow into a single leaving. As the speaker prepares to go, his pain is not just about land, but about life slipping away. Baughan masterfully intertwines landscape and life, showing how place becomes a mirror of the self as time passes and mortality draws near.

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Literary Works Similar to “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

Representative Quotations of “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

🌟 Quotation	📖 Explanation	🧠 Theoretical Context
🌾 “So the last day’s come at last, the close of my fifteen year—”	The speaker marks the end of an era, signaling both personal and historical closure. It evokes a tone of exhaustion and finality.	Psychological Theory: Explores emotional fatigue and the closure of life’s significant chapters.
💔 “The place that’s broken my heart—the place where I’ve lived my life.”	Captures the paradox of deep emotional attachment to a place that has also caused pain. It encapsulates the central emotional tension.	Paradox & Postcolonial Theory: Reflects settler alienation from the land that simultaneously forms their identity.
🔥 “Eleven-fifty in fifteen year…it isn’t much of a boast.”	Reflects disillusionment with the yield of his efforts. Highlights futility despite years of labor.	Marxist Theory: Critiques economic alienation and failure of labor to translate into profit or pride.
🧍 “Clear’d I have, and I’ve clear’d an’ clear’d, yet everywhere, slap in your face”	Illustrates the speaker’s battle with nature and the land’s refusal to be tamed. Personifies nature as resistant.	Ecocriticism: Shows nature not as passive but as an active, resisting agent to colonization.
🏚️ “An’ the house got burnt which I built, myself, with all that worry and pride;”	Symbol of lost dreams and failed domestic aspirations. The destruction of the home suggests emotional collapse.	Psychoanalytic & Feminist Theory: Domestic space becomes a site of trauma and emotional labor.
⚰️ “Where the Missus was always homesick, and where she took fever, and died.”	Links emotional and physical illness with colonial displacement. Her homesickness reflects cultural uprootedness.	Postcolonial & Feminist Theory: Reveals colonial failure to off

Suggested Readings: “The Old Place” by Blanche Edith Baughan

1. Harris, Nancy May. “Making it new:” Modernism” in BE Baughan’s New Zealand poetry.” (1992).
2. Bond, Emma Katherine. “Colloquy and continuity: the integrated dialogues of Blanche Edith Baughan.” (1998).
3. KUZMA, JULIAN. “New Zealand Landscape and Literature, 1890-1925.” Environment and History, vol. 9, no. 4, 2003, pp. 451–61. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20723458. Accessed 2 July 2025.