Ancestral Photograph - Seamus Heaney.

Ronak Punjabi 10N

Ancestral Photograph – Seamus Heaney

The poet, Seamus Heaney, is describing his great-uncle from an old photograph that has been on the wall for decades. He is in a pensive mood, thinking about his family’s history and his own involvement in it.

The picture created of the man is not an attractive one. The opening sentence to the poem, “Jaws puff round and solid as a turnip” makes it seem as if the face is completely smooth, without any interesting features – just like a “turnip”. “Jaws puff round” gives the reader an impression that the great-uncle’s face is bloated and flabby. The next sentence in the first stanza, “Dead eyes are statue’s” suggests that the man is lifeless and that he has a blank expression on his face. The reader also gets the impression that Seamus Heaney’s great-uncle is rather unpleasant from the words: “the upper lip bullies the heavy mouth down to a droop”. “Droop” might suggest that he is possibly unhappy. The next line: “Whose look has two parts scorn, two parts dead pan” further confirms that the man in the photograph is disagreeable with a vacant look. The last line of this stanza reveals that the man is probably not wealthy because he is wearing a “silver watch chain”.

In stanza 2, Heaney decides to take down the photograph. When he does remove it from the wall, Heaney declares that “there is a faded patch where he has been”. Heaney uses the pronoun “he”, and not “it” for his great-uncle. This makes it seem as if his great-uncle has been in the house all this time. Heaney continues, “As if a bandage had been ripped from skin”, which could mean that removing the photograph off the wall hurts him. It could also mean that his great-uncle wants continue to ‘live’ in the photograph on the wall ...

In stanza 2, Heaney decides to take down the photograph. When he does remove it from the wall, Heaney declares that “there is a faded patch where he has been”. Heaney uses the pronoun “he”, and not “it” for his great-uncle. This makes it seem as if his great-uncle has been in the house all this time. Heaney continues, “As if a bandage had been ripped from skin”, which could mean that removing the photograph off the wall hurts him. It could also mean that his great-uncle wants continue to ‘live’ in the photograph on the wall and it hurts him when he has to be removed. The last line, “Empty plaque to a house’s rise and fall” might mean that the photograph – or the great-uncle – has witnessed many generations in the house and the family’s rise and fall. The word “fall” could mean when the family name dies out, or troubles or tensions within the family. This word could also relate to his Seamus Heaney’s other poem “Digging”, where he discusses his feelings of how he is different to all his ancestors. The “fall” in this case could mean how the farming skills have not been passed on from his father to son – like it has been from generation to generation in the past within his family.

Heaney remembers herding the cattle into pens or restraining them against a wall. At this time, cattle were sold at market and his father would tell the cattlemen his price and settle a deal. “My father won at arguing” suggests that Heaney’s father knows what he is doing and is very good at his job. Heaney uses many verbs in this stanza which illustrates and reflects the vivacity of the busy cattle markets. The alternative to a written contract of purchase accepted by the cattlemen was “a round of drinks to clinch the bargain”. This is because both parties are happy with the deal and celebrate their approval.

The action-portrait in stanza 4 paints a somewhat cheerful and jovial image in the reader’s mind than the dull and unappealing picture described in the first stanza. The words “dead” in the first stanza and “jaunty” in the fourth stanza is an example of this contrast. Heaney says that he sees his great-uncle “draw thumbs out of his waistcoat, curtly smack hands and sell”. This conveys that he is pleased with his job as a cattle farmer.

a) Heaney’s father’s farming skills were passed on to him from his uncle, and the ability to herd cattle and sell them at market.

When Heaney addresses his father directly, it makes it seem as if he is talking to someone in the room beside him. The tone implied by “Father, I’ve watched you do the same” suggests a chatty conversation with a friend.

The mood in the final stanza is a rather depressing and dismal one. At this point Heaney reverts to the present. The unhappy mood is achieved because this cheerfulness does not exist anymore. “And watched you sadden when the fairs were stopped. No room for dealers if the farmers shopped like housewives at an auction ring.” Heaney points out that this new way of selling cattle is relatively effeminate. “Your stick was parked behind the door and stands there still.” He is sad because things will never be the same again. This is achieved by declaring to his father: “Closing this chapter of our chronicle, I take your uncle’s portrait to the attic.” This suggests that his great-uncle no longer belongs to this time – he fits in with the past.

Through this poem, Heaney is showing us that sometimes in life you are bound to be disappointed. This is because life changes. Just like fashion, life evolves as time goes by. And sometimes, we like it the way it used to be before. Similar to Heaney’s family, things change through generations. His ancestors were farmers; breaking the tradition, Heaney is a poet. Heaney tells us that however hard it may be, you have to live with the times; what belongs to the past should stay there. “Closing this chapter of our chronicle”, a fresh one opens for the future.