The poem begins with an Irish farmer employing a young man – a hireling – to help him out with his harvest for the Lammas festival. He is initially happy with the help as it brings him “a lot of money” and the hireling was well received, “I liked him because he knew when not to speak.”
However, one day the farmer heads for a walk after having a nightmare. He spots the hireling surrounded in a “low light, naked except for the fox-trap cutting into his leg.” He immediately realizes that the hireling is in fact a male witch/warlock.
Despite his affection for the hireling, the farmer does not hesitate to “blast a hole through his heart.” He carries the hireling’s body to a river where he callously dumps him in. He is worried about the state of his cows which have been touched by the hireling, “All my cows are diseased now.” The constant stress and guilt prevents the farmer from sleeping, so he “spend [his] days, here, at church” begging the priest to “Bless [him] for [his] sins.”
