Satirical print from 1830 depicting a goose lamenting the loss of the Commons to Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet, a Duke and King William IV.
"The Goose and the Common", also referred to as "Stealing the Common from the Goose", is a poem written by an unknown author that makes a social commentary on the social injustice caused by the privatization of common land during the enclosures in England.[1] It was first recorded in a magazine in 1821 where it was quoted in full,[2] but it is estimated to have been written in the late 18th century.[3][4] The poem is composed of 4 stanzas, each with two pairs of rhyming couplets.
The poem is often quoted or referenced in connection to the privatization of common resources, such as seed genetics,[5] the human genome[6] and taxpayer-funded drug research.[7]
Text
The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose.
The law demands that we atone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine.
The poor and wretched don’t escape If they conspire the law to break; This must be so but they endure Those who conspire to make the law.
The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common And geese will still a common lack Till they go and steal it back
The posthumously released 2014 compilation album Rarities Volumes 1 & 2 by experimental musician Lindsay Cooper features "The Song of the Goose and the Common" which features lyrics adapted from the poem.
In the 2019 album Enclosure by The Askew Sisters, the poem is sung accompanied by cello and triangle in the track "Goose and Common".[8]
The 2020 music video, "The Goose and the Common", a collaboration between Shadab Shayegan (director, animation) and Heaven Sent Cat (music), has the poem fully included within the lyrics.[9]
In 2023, Helen Bell set the poem to a newly composed melody and added her own new chorus lyric ("Who remembers when...?"), releasing a video in which it is sung by two voices, accompanied by two violas.[10]
The 2025 novel "Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins sees the character Lenore Dove put the poem to music as she sings about her corrupt and greedy government.
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