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Tim Power
Restoration Literature
Prof. Bailes
December 3, 2016
Pastoralism and Physics: “The Deserted Village” and Britain’s Waning Energy
The second law of thermodynamics states, that with constant energy input, order is
created, and as energy input decreases, disorder is created. In the poem “The Deserted Village”
by Oliver Goldsmith, shows the order and disorder that evolves as pastoralist people leave
Britain after large amounts of enclosures. The flight of these people exhibits the second law of
thermodynamics; as these people leave, along with their art and culture that they contribute to
society on top of their economic value, Britain falls to disorder. Goldsmith centers his poem on
the fantasy village of Auburn, which serves as a dynamic setting that shows the disorder that
occurs. Pastoralist at the were considered country folk that lived beyond the urban setting and
contributed economic as well as cultural value to society. In his poem, Goldsmith removes these
people and shows the consequences, as a warning to Britain to prevent government sponsored
acts such as enclosures. Enclosure is simply the act of buying land to make larger farms, which
often times destroys the land by overusing the resources that nature provides. Along with a
warning about destroying the land through over-farming, Goldsmith makes another warning
about British society. He claims that British society will suffer culturally through the
endorsement of enclosures because, along with economic loss, there is loss of art, which is
arguably more valuable. Applying the second law of thermodynamics to the poem “The Deserted
Village” shows how art and culture is what prevents societies from becoming disordered, as
exhibited by the imagery of Auburn and the association of pastoral people and culture.
The association of pastoral life is strategically made by the speaker through the imagery

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of Auburn before enclosure. As Ricardo Quintana writes in his article “The Deserted Village, Its
Logical and Rhetorical Elements,” he states “At no point, however, is this basic proposition [that
being the damage that enclosure has on farms and its people] set forth in such direct, unadorned,
completely conceptual terms. It is developed, rather, by means of an unfolding series of
contrasts, discursively and with a unifying logic” (211). What he is saying is that the impact and
influence that enclosure has on farmers, is not directly state but rather expressed through
coupling images. The images that describe Auburn pre-enclosure are coupled with the second
law of thermodynamics. A lot of images are centered around energy, specifically heat, in order
to describe the richness and substance of pastoral life. One of the opening lines of the poem
depicts the seasons of the village centered on energy and renewal; “Where health and plenty
cheered the laboring swain,/ Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,/ And parting summer’s
lingering blooms delayed” (2-4). The emphasis on spring does not lie in the traits of spring, but
instead in its duration. The fact that the blooms of summer are delayed, shows that there is a
balance of heat within the village. The fact that spring is a transitional period where there is not
too much heat like in summer but not too little as in winter, shows that pastoral has reached an
energy equilibrium; there is enough energy for people to live. In later lines, the line “And
sleights of art and feats of strength went round” exhibits that art, and the accomplishments of art,
are achieved during this season (22). This association of art quantity and spring, shows the
correlation of art and pastoral people. The pastoral people are able to produce such great
amounts of art during this period of perfect heat and energy.
Goldsmith places the sun as the eternal energy source for the pastoral people in
order to show that nature favors their lifestyle instead of those that live in the city. Energy can

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only be transferred, something that Goldsmith expresses with heat images. In lines 184, when
the speaker describes the priest’s encounter with a small child, writes, “And plucked his gown, to
share the good man’s smile./ His ready smile a parent’s warmth expressed,” this offers an
instance of energy transfer between two people that shows how impactful it can be. The word
“share” and “warmth” offers that denotation and connotation of energy and heat. The word
“share” gives associations to energy because according to the laws of thermodynamics, energy is
not created or destroyed, but exchanged and shared between sources. “Warmth” implies that
energy input has increased; the more energy in the exchange the warmer it is. This exchange
shows that there is a positive feedback of energy between the pastoral people; the pleasures and
positivity of their lives, which allows them to enjoy work, is exchanged through physical
interactions, instead of material accumulations such as letters. It further shows how pastoral
people thrive through the interactions of each other. Later in the stanza, the speaker writes
“Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,/ Eternal sunshine settles on its head”
(191-192). This shows that the sun, the ultimate source of heat and energy for the earth, is
always shining on the pastoral people, allowing them to grow and be productive and beneficial to
society; the sun is able to keep these people in that productive state of spring with a lingering
summer, contrasted to those in the city.
Compared with the imagery that Goldsmith uses for Auburn with the imagery used for
the city, it becomes clear which lifestyle is more beneficial to nature and society through this
juxtaposition. In line 311, the speaker writes “To see ten thousand baneful arts combined/ To
pamper luxury, and thin mankind;” not only is art depicted as archaic, but he presents it as
harmful to society. The word “thin” also has connotations shriveled, which is used to describe

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dying plants. It implies that man has used all its resources, like a dying plant, and can no longer
produce productive art that benefits British society and culture. Later imagery emphasizes this
by using words that depict lack of energy or heat. “There the pale artist plies the sickly trade;”
implies that the artisans do not have the natural energy that the farmers do, to make art. “Pale”
implies blandness as well as lack of sun. This association of lack of sun is paired with the
“sickly trade.” The speaker implies that art no longer is a means of living, but is instead is sickly
and is considered a trade. The word trade makes art seem as if its only importance it to acquire
money, a driving force behind city living and not pastoral life. For people that live in the city, art
is simply a commodity, whereas in the pastoral setting it is valued more as a product of labor.
This juxtaposition is made between these images; the pastoral life values the enough energy
input to sustain themselves, while the city overkills it to the point where life is drained and
disorder is created.
It is clear through the order of the pastoral peoples’ lives that they are comfortable with
making and using enough energy, whereas the economy of the city cannot keep up with its
energy input, thus diminishing valuable assets to society, such as art. In his article “The Politics
of Reception: The Case of Goldsmith’s The Deserted Village,” Alfred Lutz writes “Goldsmith
provides it with an alternative identity by describing the rural population at leisure. . . rather than
at work. The image of the self-sufficient owner-occupier, content with producing enough to
satisfy his own needs within a largely self-contained village economy, becomes visible in the
poem. . . in an economy that was geared toward the production of surplus” (181). The
juxtaposition of these images in relation to art and its benefits to society, shows that art as an
energy form functions in two different ways. For people in pastoral settings, art is a means of

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life and living, whereas in the city it is simply another catalyst to contribute to their growing
economy.
The end of the poem serves to warn Britain of what will happen if they continue to
destroy the lives of the pastoral people. The pairing of poetry, which encompasses all art, is
leaving with the pastoral people shows that that is the cause of the devastation and disorder of
Britain. “And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid, / Still first to fly where sensual joys
invade;/ Unfit, in these degenerate times of shame,/ To catch the heat, or strike for honest fame;”
shows how when the pastoral people left for America, they took with them art in its most
valuable form (407-410). Poetry was considered to be the most complex and advanced art form
of the time, so by expressing how it has left Britain. As a result of poetry, and art in general,
leaving Britain, the speaker warns the country that the energy source that has made it great, is
leaving. “Even now the devastation is begun, / And half the business of destruction done;”
already, the speaker is telling the audience that Britain’s energy source is depleting and disorder
is ensuing. The fact that of all the things pastoral people contribute to Britain, economic and
cultural, they chose to emphasize poetry as being “the loveliest maid” and the absence of it
causes “half the business of destruction done.” This association shows that not only is art the
most important thing to pastoral life, but it also to British society. By picking the most important
form of culture and art, shows the extremity and severity of pastoral people leaving. This also
shows how much British society values art and culture, the speaker knows that by evoking such
emotion through the most loved form of art, will make Britain realize the harm they are doing.
This love that Britain has for art, is the energy source that keeps it in order, the energy provided

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by the pastoral people. However, when pastoral people leave, and take with it art and culture in
the liveliest form, disorder erupts.
“The Deserted Village” by Oliver Goldsmith is a warning to Britain about the dangers of
enclosures and how it not only affects the people that live there, but also their economy.
Applying the second law of thermodynamics to the poem shows that the energy input that kept
order in Britain was the art produced by the pastoral people. The pastoral people are self
sustaining, able to produce enough energy that can support their community. However, the
urban setting is ignorantly unaware that farmers are the energy source that is keeping order in
Britain through their art production. The pastoral people are inadvertently the energy source for
Britain, and as they migrate to America with their art and depopulate Britain, energy is lost and
disorder, according to Goldsmith, as already occurred. This association of energy and order,
science and art, shows that the order of a society lies in its pastoral people that appreciate nature,
and with that, the art that they create.

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Works Cited
Lutz, Alfred. “The Politics of Reception: The Case of Goldsmith's ‘The Deserted
Village.’” Studies in Philology, vol. 95, no. 2, 1998, pp. 174–196. www.jstor.org/stable/4174605.
This source offers historical context that puts the poem into place. It discusses the
political reception of the poem in both England and the United States, which will be useful in
discussing the warning that Goldsmith gives about America becoming better than England. It
discusses the interpretations of politicians and economists of the time and how it expresses their
ideas or how it exhibits contradictory opinions.
Quintana, Ricardo. “The Deserted Village, Its Logical and Rhetorical Elements.” College
English, vol. 26, no. 3, 1964, pp. 204–214. www.jstor.org/stable/373591
This source offers an analysis of the village before and after enclosure set in. It discusses
logical and rhetorical elements that support Goldsmith’s perception of enclosures. It discusses
how neoclassical style evokes emotions which corresponds with the images and depictions I
intend to analyze.