The Seven Vagabonds

The Seven Vagabonds is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s shorter pieces, originally published in The Token annual gift book in 1833 and later collected in his Twice Told Tales collection. The story is one of his more atmospheric and gently humorous shorter pieces, with the central premise involving the chance encounter of seven different traveling figures at a particular roadside spot in rural New England.

The seven vagabonds of the title each represent a different kind of itinerant figure that nineteenth century rural New England would have produced. A traveling showman with a small entertainment, a merchant peddler with his wares, a bookseller with his portable library, a wandering preacher, a young couple who seem to have run away from home, and various other figures whose lives have brought them to the same crossroads at the same time. Hawthorne uses the chance encounter to develop the kind of sketch that gathers multiple character types and lets them interact across the limited time frame.

The narrator himself is one of the seven, joining the gathering for the duration of the encounter and observing the various other figures with the kind of careful attention that distinguishes Hawthorne’s reflective sketches. The wider plot involves the various figures discussing their travels, their plans, and the wider observations they have made about the country and the people they have encountered.

For students of nineteenth century American literature, of New England regional writing, or of Hawthorne’s wider catalogue, The Seven Vagabonds is one of the more distinctive shorter pieces. The atmospheric quality of the chance encounter and the careful character work distinguish it from the more morally weighted Hawthorne shorter pieces that have entered the standard anthologies.