SEAMUS HEANEY (1936-)

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SEAMUS
HEANEY (1936-)
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First and foremost an Irish poet, Heaney is
renowned for ways in which he combines in his
work personal memories with images of Irish
heritage and the landscape of Northern Ireland.
Indeed, not only does he pay tribute to his Irish
origins in his poetry, but he also uses the rich
rural landscapes of Ireland as a means through
which to explore deeper questions of identity,
relationships and the power of writing. He won
the Nobel Literature prize in 1995. Death of a
Naturalist (1966) is his second collection of
work. It consists of 34 short poems and is
largely concerned with childhood experiences and
the formulation of adult identities, family
relationships, and rural life. The collection
begins with one of Heaney's best-known poems,
"Digging", and includes the acclaimed "Death of a
Naturalist", "At a Potato Digging", "Mid-Term
Break", and "Storm on the Island". Some of
Heaneys later collections of poetry,
particularly North address the social and
political unrest in Northern Ireland during the
1970s.
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What it is about this poetry that appeals to so
many and that has, from the outset, earned itself
critical acceptance and admiration of a kind
rarely seen is best summarised by Christopher
Ricks when he called Heaney the most trusted
poet of our islands Writing about Heaney in
1968, Jim Hunter, said His own involvement
does not exclude us there are few private
references, and the descriptive clarity of his
writing makes it easy to follow...Heaney's world
is a warm, even optimistic one his tone is that
of traditional sanity and humanity.
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Digging, the first poem of his first
collection, Death of a Naturalist (1966), is
quoted in almost every discussion of Heaneys
work for its prescient statement of the themes
that would dominate his poetry his sensual love
of his native ground his fascination with work
and all kinds of tools his vision of poetry as a
traditional, laborious, and sustaining craft,
like farming. The most important thing about
Digging, however, is that it takes the form of a
promise, a commitment from the poet to his father
and grandfather, whose lives were spent literally
digging the soil. Heaney acknowledges that he is
not a farmer, and will not follow their vocation.
But at the start of his career, he vows to
translate their virtues into another kind of
work..
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What does the poem reveal about Heaneys
feelings towards his cultural heritage? How does
Heaney vividly bring the idea of digging to
life in this poem?
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Listen to the following Podcast on Digging and
then make notes on the following question How
does Heaney use literary devices to highlight the
key themes of the poem? http//poetry.podomatic
.com/entry/eg/2006-06-05T09_17_00-07_00
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Look at the following reviews of Heaneys work.
Do you agree with them? Bear in mind that these
reviews are included to generate discussion. They
are not from trusted literary sources and
therefore they should not be quoted in your work
on Heaney!
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