"The Golf Links Lie So Near the Mill" by Sarah Cleghorn

Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn was a poet known for her association to the American Naturalist literary movement. Typically didactic in nature, her poetry illustrated her views on political and social principles.

The golf links lie so near the mill
That almost every day
The laboring children can look out
And see the men at play.

The “laboring children [of the mill] can look out/ And see the men at play.” We, as a society that has long since abolished the use of child labor, typically picture the adult being the hard working character and the children as those who frolic about without a care in the world. However, she describes the children laboring and the men at play “almost every day.” The entire message is dependent on the final word. Initially, the audience believes that the poem would end with the men at work; Cleghorn led us to believe that the entire poem was dramatic irony. However, the word “play” transformed the entire poem using situational irony, as we believed that the poem would end with the men working diligently instead of the children. This juxtaposition between the two generations also compares the upper and lower classes. Golf is a Scottish game typically associated as a game intended for the wealthy. Golf links, the oldest style of golf course, are contrasted with the mill, which is typically characterized as a workplace for the poor. With just one word, Cleghorn also juxtaposes the audience’s expectation with reality. We expected the world to be as gentle and carefree, which is what we wanted to see. But Cleghorn brings to light the issue of child labor through her use of irony which is finalized by the last word of the poem. Although the context of Cleghorn’s message was aimed at the American society of the time, her message can still be used today and be aimed at third world countries that still use such barbaric techniques.