1. The Village Schoolmaster by Oliver Goldsmith - a commentary on the poem
Notes and questions with each slide.

2. “The Village Schoolmaster is an extract from a longer poem - “The Deserted Village.”
The common land
was fenced off
by the rich
Villages
were
deserted
The poor had
nowhere to graze
their animals
or collect fuel
Many historians believe that enclosure led to the reduction of small landholders in England. Enclosure was when the common land was fenced off by act of parliament. This was resisted by small landowners and landless labourers. Common rights had included not only the right to graze cattle or sheep, but also the poor were able to graze geese and let their pigs forage for food. They could also collect berries and fuel. Many people who had previously been able to live off the land, were now forced into the towns where they became worked in the factories. So a ‘deserted village’ was a common sight.
The poor were forced
to work in towns
in factories

3. The poem is a portrait of a village schoolmaster
The first 2 lines
sets the scene
of a deserted village
The village was
where he taught
“unprofitably gay”
The fence
The fence “straggles” because it hasn’t been repaired. The gorse is “unprofitably gay” because it has been left to bloom, rather than cut and burnt for fuel. The gorse ashes would then be used to fertilise the land. All signs of a deserted village.
“Straggles”
The gorse

4. Goldsmith shows us the different sides of the schoolmaster
He mentions his
strengths
Suggests he was
strict with
those
who missed school.
“Skilled to rule”
But also his more
intimidating side
“and every truant knew”
“stern to view”
“severe”

5. The pupils could guess his mood for that day by the expression on his face
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day’s disasters in his morning face;
But “boding tremblers”
is comic
- it’s exaggerated
These words suggest it
wasn’t a good mood
Can you judge mood by the expression on the face?

6. The pupils laughed at his jokes
Did I tell you
the one about..
“counterfeited glee,”
Their laughter was faked
And then there’s
the one about..
“, the dismal tidings
when he frown'd:”
Why do people laugh at jokes that aren’t funny?
“for many a joke had he:” What does this suggest about the schoolmaster?
What is the village schoolmaster like on the basis of the evidence on this slide?
“for many a joke had he,”
But his mood could change

7. examples of his kindness but goes on to tell us.. “Yet he was kind”
Goldsmith doesn’t
give us any
examples of his kindness
but goes on to tell us..
“Yet he was kind”
anything
strict
“or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault”
How can loving learning too much be considered a fault? The rest of the poem gives us some indication.
The schoolmaster loved learning too much,
until it became a fault.

8. The village all declar'd how much he knew;
All useful skills in
the eyes of the
uneducated villagers
but not evidence of
great learning
write
cipher
measure
terms and tides presage
Do maths
Predict the dates of
religious festivals and holidays
More complex maths-
calculating liquid
in a barrel or rainfall
“the story’ suggest
it’s difficult to believe
Goldsmith appears to be building up the schoolmaster’s knowledge, but it is only impressive to the villagers who would have had little or no education.
Why would the skills and knowledge listed be useful in the life of the village?
And e'en the story ran that he could gauge.

9. In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
This appears to be a
compliment
about the schoolmaster
The vicar - a man
with education
But it’s a very particular
type of skill
defeated
For even though vanquish'd he could argue still;
Why would someone carry on arguing after he had lost? Stubborness? Did he not realise he had lost the argument? It’s a gentle, humorous criticism from Goldsmith.
He carried on arguing after he had lost

10. The schoolmaster tries to impress the villagers with..
Sounds
impressive
words of learned length
and thundering sound
I’m amazed
He’s held in
high regard
by the villagers,
who are impressed
by his knowledge.
I gaze
How can that
“small head”
hold all that
Knowledge?
Goldsmith uses “gazing”, “ gazed” and “amazed” close together - the repetition emphasising the rustics’ wonder.
It’s an affectionate poem where Goldsmith gently mocks the limits of the schoolmaster’s knowledge and is ironic at his expense’ “ that one small head could carry all he knew.” The “small head” suggests that there can’t have been that much knowledge in there.
In the context of the poem “Deserted Village” Goldsmith is lamenting the loss of a character because of the changes in agriculture. The next two lines of the poem read:
“But past is all his fame. The very spot 

Where many a time he triumph'd is forgot.” My
wonder
grows

11. A quick note on the form of the poem:
Rhymes with
the following line:
aa, bb, cc etc
10 syllables in each line
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned.
Are there any couplets in the poem that are not closed couplets? Read it through.
A popular
eighteenth
century
verse form
These are closed
couplets; each couplet
is a unit of sense
It’s a heroic
couplet