The Deserted Village

I could really connect with Goldsmith's reminiscing of how things used to be, especially because I grew up in a small town that was much like the "Sweet Auburn!" Goldsmith describes. Both my parents were born and raised in this small town as well, and my dad's parents grew up there as well, so I'm the third generation of this family to grow up in a town with a population of less than 1,200. Lake Chelan, more specifically Manson, used to be a small orchard town. The entire valley was covered in apple orchards, and everyone who lived there was either a teacher, worked for the city, or was an orchardist. However, the apple market crashed and the orchards started to go away and are now replaced with vineyards, instead of apple country we are now wine country.

I don't mind it, it's all I know, but sometimes I hear my dad pining for days past when everything was green and simple and slow paced. Much like Goldsmith's line "These were thy charms, sweet village! sports like these, with sweet succession, taught even toil to please" (33-34) if my dad were to read this poem, and told to relate it back to his life, he would probably tell you that he see's "the tyrant's hand" mentioned in line 37 as people who come from the west side of the state to our valley in the summer. Though the tourists keep our local economy afloat, they can be quite annoying.