[The golf links lie so near the mill]

[The golf links lie so near the mill] by Sarah Cleghorn

Sarah Cleghorn was born in 1876 in Norfolk, Virginia. She was a poet associated with the American Naturalist literary movement. Many of her poems portray Christian Socialist Values and progressive political and social principles. [The golf links lie so near the mill] is Cleghorn's most widely known poem. It is a short poem with one stanza consisting of four lines. Even though the poem is short, Cleghorn clearly gets the purpose of the poem across. The purpose of this poem is to address the issue of child labor. There is not much description throughout the poem, so the reader should not have a problem figuring out the point the author is trying to make. The author uses irony through the use of diction to portray her message about child labor. This poem is ironic because Cleghorn describes the children working and the men playing. Usually, children are playing and men are working. The use of diction helps convey the irony. The author describes the children as "laboring" which automatically makes the reader think of child labor. The author ends the poem with the word "play" because it is powerful. She is making the point that adults should not be playing while children are stuck inside a mill working. The author's use of irony and diction in this poem clearly portrays the message that child labor should not be tolerated under any circumstances