Again Heaney emphasises Taggert’s nonchalance, at the end of the second line, third stanza ‘… He sluiced them out…’ When Taggert slung out the kitten’s he showed no sentimentality. To him it was just another part of his job ‘another day another dollar’ attitude.
‘Dunghill’ reflects the title ‘purges’. There are quite a few references in which the title becomes apparent. Heaney uses it to make quite clear he is talking of bad things: things that need to be ridden of and death.
Between the fourth and fifth stanzas, the enjambment is especially significant because it expresses a change of feeling in Heaney himself. It also expresses a passing of time in Heaney’s life. In the fifth stanza Heaney is looking back at what he used to think, and what he thinks now. Heaney ‘… sadly hung… watching… until I forgot…’ Heaney mourns until one day, it seems he gets up and forgets all about them, as little boys do. I believe it was his innocence and naivety that made him able to forget.
But Young Heaney became scared again when Taggert killed other animals. Heaney uses a piece, which catches the reader’s attention. Heaney seems to be saying the same thing three times over. He uses three different animals but he is putting across the message of pests being killed in some form or another. It has some alliteration ‘… snared… shot…’ ‘…rabbits… rats…’ Dan Taggert just did these things as a part of his job. He even ‘… pulled old hens necks…’ If someone in an industrialized area did that, they would be thought of as being cruel, but in rural areas it is just ‘a way of life’.
In the sixth stanza, even though the word ‘still’ isn’t actually meaning still as in dead and is used almost as a conjunctive word, it could be portrayed into the meaning of death because it links up with the title. With ‘… still, living…’, it becomes an oxymoron. I believe, Heaney may have done this purposefully to imply that the sentimentality he had as a child, had now died, or gone away. He had lost his sentimentality towards pesky animals.
Heaney emphasises his loss of sentimentality by using a vivid piece of imagery of someone, maybe himself, drowning some pups by prodding them down if and when they floated to the surface, and Heaney just shrugging ‘…bloody pups…’ After years gone by, it now makes sense to Heaney, after all they’re only pests.
‘…“Prevention of Cruelty” talk cuts ice in town…’ What Heaney is saying here, is that in urban areas, people are shocked and take notice if animals are killed or die, even of natural causes. If a dog were run over it would be treated if possible and nursed back to health. A townsperson would keep a dog even if it was useless, whereas a farmer, who has limited time and resources, would be likely to shoot a lame dog to put it out of its misery, and because it would now be useless as a working dog.
In urban areas death is considered unnatural, whereas rural people take death in their stride, whether it be animal or family member, in both cases.
The first and third line of each stanza is rhyme, or in the case of the fifth stanza it is more assonance than rhyme.
‘The Early Purges’ the title refers to the early life of Heaney, for example when he was a youth ‘…I was six…’ and of his childhood memories. The purges is related to quite frequently during the poem ‘… dunghills… scraggy wee shits… dung…’ ‘The Early Purges’ is a phrase used in this poem to describe the getting rid of the false sentiments, sentimental value of animals at a young age.
In the twenty first century it is still hard for people to accept death in urban areas. When someone dies in an urban area, it can be front age news, depending on who it is. When someone dies in a rural area, it isn’t taken as well as it used to be because they are so modernised, but still take it better than urban people. They take it in their stride: they show a sensible attitude.
I shall now start analysing my next poem, ‘Digging’. In this poem Heaney tells us that he is a writer, and that he is breaking the family tradition by being so.
‘…snug as a gun…’ is quite a contrast as ‘snug’ is a word often related to warmth and comfort, whereas ‘gun’ is a word related to death and discomfort. The word ‘snug’ in this phrase emphasises Heaney’s own comfort with the pen and his ability to write, yet with the gun, a killing instrument, it shows that Heaney also has the ability to write nasty, vicious words that can affect, or even ruin, people’s lives. Also with the phrase, Heaney could be implying that he is killing the family’s tradition of digging: of being a labouring family of the working class.
‘… under my window…’ implies that Heaney is in an upstairs room, looking down upon the garden. This may imply the concept of Heaney looking down upon his father, as being inferior to Heaney himself. This could be because of his superior knowledge and education. ‘… looking down…’ emphasises this point.
In the fourth line, there are two examples of alliteration, ‘… spade sinks… gravelly ground…’. Heaney uses the alliteration to enhance the visual imagery, to make sure you get a fuller picture. Also, the onomatopoeia ‘… gravelly…’ enhances the sound imagery.
The first two lines, in the second paragraph, rhyme ‘… sound… ground…’ and they show some assonance with the third line, ‘down’. This helps to balance out the rhythm, and give emphasis.
Heaney watches his father bend down into the flowerbeds and when his father comes up, Heaney is reminded about the days when he would watch his father straighten up amidst the potato plants. This is a memory from years ago, when Heaney was a boy ‘twenty years away’. The expertise of his father even whilst just tending his flowers reminds Heaney of his father’s precision and dedication when he used to dig in the potato drills. ‘… stooping low in rhythm…’ was a phrase used by Heaney to describe his father’s determination of keeping a steady pace.
The ‘… coarse boot nestled…’ I think this is an oxymoron due to the sharp contrast between ‘coarse’ and ‘nestled’. ‘Coarse’ is a word associated with rough and not precise, whereas ‘nestled’ is associated with having care and being cosy. I think Heaney uses oxymoron’s to emphasise certain points, often at the beginning, or end, of a stanza : I think in the case of this oxymoron, at the beginning of the stanza, he is emphasising the father’s expertise and unity with the spade.
In the next three lines Heaney talks about his father’s spade and potatoes. There are four examples of alliteration, ‘… tall tops… buried… bright… potatoes… picked… hardness… hands…’ Heaney is talking of his father’s fluidity as he loosened the potatoes. Heaney uses the alliteration to help to demonstrate the fluidity of his father’s movements whilst engaged in digging up his prized potatoes. The two words ‘… buried… bright…’, in the same phrase are oxymoronic because they are sharply contrasted, ‘buried’ being a word associated largely with death burials and darkness, whereas, ‘bright’ is a word often associated with a bright future and light. In the phrase ‘Buried the bright edge deep’ Heaney may be referring to a bright future, or tradition, being buried. Heaney may be talking of what could have been his future, as a digger, being buried.
In this poem, Heaney separates the fifteenth and sixteenth lines from the rest. I think that Heaney does this purposefully to accentuate the tradition of his family. His family’s tradition had been as a working class, non-educated, digger, yet Heaney shows us that he has broken this tradition by becoming an educated writer. ‘… The old man could handle a spade… Just like his old man…’ Here, Heaney seems to be looking on the tradition of his family quite fondly and praising his father, but yet could it be that he also felt some anguish at not carrying on his family’s tradition?
In the seventeenth and eighteenth lines, ‘…My Grandfather cut more turf in a day… than any other man on toner’s bog…’ Heaney demonstrates that he is proud of his Grandfather’s achievements and expertise when he praises him of being one of the best turf cutters in their area. Heaney sounds sorrowful that he didn’t become a digger but not enough it transpires, to change his mind about becoming a writer.
Young Heaney took his Grandfather some milk, which was ‘… corked sloppily with paper…’ The oxymoron ‘corked sloppily’ is utilised to demonstrate the difference between country life to use whatever comes to hand, and sophisticated precision in urban life. It also emphasises the contrast between Young Heaney and his Grandfather. Using this technique Heaney shows us that his expert Grandfather drinks swiftly and with purpose, and then ‘…fell to right away…’, which contrasts to young Heaney who, as a young boy, would probably have been a bit dirty and scruffy and would most likely have drank the milk ‘sloppily’ and then sat down for a rest and to mess about.
Heaney uses assonance to emphasise his grandfather’s expertise and precision, ‘… nicking… slicing… heaving…’ All these words have the echoing of the digging and accuracy of Heaney’s Grandfather. It emphasises the cuts, slices and incisions made by the digging of the digger. The onomatopoeia ‘… the squelch and slap…’ enhances the sound imagery created by graphically describing the sounds made by the mud when something is being slapped against it.
Heaney says that ‘… living roots awaken in my head…’ I think that Heaney is referring to a feeling deep inside, calling out for him to dig, and follow the traditions of his family. Also he may be referring to memories from his childhood where he used to look up to his father, and want to be like him. His father also may have been asking him to take over his farm. I think in the phrase ‘… I’ve no spade to follow men like them…’ Heaney’s re-iterating that he does not want to become a digger, and now he has come to a point in his life where he can’t turn back to become a digger.
Heaney finishes his poem by repeating the first stanza, yet replacing ‘… snug as a gun…’ with ‘… I’ll dig with it…’ meaning that even though he hasn’t a spade, he will dig with the only tool he has the ability to use with skill, his pen.
I shall now start my third poem, ‘Blackberry Picking’. Heaney as a youth, it seemed waited in anticipation for the blackberries to ripen. In late august, ‘…given heavy rain and sun…’ this phrase can be explained to give an insight to what Heaney is telling us. Heaney is not just talking about the heavy weather, but also the amount of crops to be harvested. Around late August, it is the time to harvest fruits.
‘… A glossy purple clot…’ is Heaney’s first introduction of the image of blood, which he uses fairly frequently throughout the poem. ‘Clot’ is a word often associated with blood e.g. blood clot.
‘… Green, hard as a knot…’ the ‘green’ unripe ness of the berry is reinforced with the idea of ‘hard as a knot’. When a berry is not ripe, then it is hard and feels solid, hence, like a knot. The phrase, ‘hard as a knot’ emphasises that the berry is not at all tender.
The phrases ‘…Flesh… thickened wine… summer’s blood… stains…’ are all related to flesh and blood. Take for example, ‘thickened wine’ this phrase is especially related to blood. In the Christian faith it is took to represent Christ’s blood. Wine, especially red, looks like a watery blood. Whereas here, it is thickened, and so must look more like blood. It must be a red wine because it is talking of berries, which have a dark red colour.
‘…Hunger sent us out…’ Heaney talks about being sent out by their mass hunger. This is reinforced by the food related words, ‘… milk-cans… pea-tins… jam-pots…’ People use food related words when they are hungry. It also tells us about their little parade, like they were off on a little journey.
‘…Briars scratched…’ here Heaney is talking about pain which may be related back to the blood and flesh concept. When you are scratched, you often draw blood, which reinforces the idea.
‘…Hayfields… cornfields… potato drills…’ these give an image of a large area of land that has to be covered by the children, hence a long journey concept. I believe that the hay, corn and potato plants all represent large trees for the children. When children are small, they think and feel that the world in general is a very big place, but as we grow up we see the world as getting smaller in the saying, ‘the world is a very small place’. ‘We trekked’ gives an idea of a long journey, this may only be a twenty-minute stroll for an adult, but for the children it was probably an hour-long journey at least, which is a huge part of the day for a child.
‘…Until the tinkling bottom had been covered…’ The children had picked enough berries to cover the bottom of each of their tins and cans. ‘Tinkling’ this is an onomatopoeic word, which gives the image of someone, collecting money for a charity. When enough money is collected the tinkling will become a dull clatter. The berries will be similarly affected.
‘…Our hands were peppered with thorn pricks…’ this is referring again to the pain, which is similarly related to blood. The phrase, ‘peppered’ has a double meaning. Firstly, it implies the pricks look like pepper, which has been sprinkled on to the hands. Secondly, pepper is a seasoning, which is seen to be a hot and itchy powder. The children’s hands were very itchy and smarting. Heaney is trying to appeal to the reader’s senses with this piece of poetry.
‘…Our palms sticky as Bluebeards…’ Bluebeard was a killer of many, and so is said to have had hands sticky with blood. So in this case, Heaney is referring to the children’s palms as being sticky, not of blood, but of berry juice. Though, again Heaney is referring to flesh and blood, and maybe their hands were sticky with some blood, of their own from the thorn pricks.
‘…A rat-grey fungus…’ Heaney uses this phrase because even though it’s not really a rat, the fungus is rodent-like, as it festers and eats their hoards, ‘glutting on our cache’. A rat is a pest, as in ‘The Early Purges’, which takes and eats other people’s food. It is like a thief. The fungus here is doing of the same concept.
‘…Sweet flesh would turn sour…’ I think this is not just referring to the fruits going off, becoming rotten, but of life itself. Those good things in life always end, or turn sour. After Life, comes Death, and berries ripen and then rot. ‘…It wasn’t fair…’ I think this little phrase re-emphasises that life’s not fair, in the fact that all good things have to end.
‘…I always felt like crying…’ After Heaney had worked himself up so much before going to pick them, it just felt like a waste when they all fermented. The crying is the pain related to rotting, which is related to death, rather than life: the death of the fruits.
Heaney splits the poem into two stanzas for a special reason. In the first stanza, Heaney talks about hunger, pains, anguish, blood and flesh. All these words relate to life. You have to be alive to feel hunger, or to eat. You have to be alive to feel physical pain. Blood and flesh are also signs of life. Flesh needs to be maintained, and this can only be done whilst you’re alive.
In the second stanza Heaney talks about the beginning of decay, turning sour, crying. All of these words are related to death. When something decays, it mustn’t be being maintained and therefore dies, or rots. Pain can be felt for others if they are dead, this can be shown emotionally by crying for them. People are unhappy when another person dies.
And so, Heaney splits his poem into two stanzas to separate life and death. He does this to emphasise the differences between life and death, happiness and sadness.
Heaney used, ‘Blackberry Picking’ as a title because it was a childhood memory that he found always let him down at the end. Though the poem starts off in an excitable mood for the children, at the end it is filled with sadness and gloom. He uses the process of picking the blackberries and then hoarding them until they rot away. At the start they are waiting in anticipation of the enjoyment, rather like people excited about going to college or university. Then they go and pick the berries and they are full of happiness at being able to pick these berries at long last, like people starting college who at last have the freedom of choice etc. And then the berries that they have hoarded start to rot and they are saddened, like college students who leave college and then look at their student loan and are shocked at how much they have spent and now owe. I have used the story of the student loan as an example, though I’m sure that Heaney had a specific story of his own in mind, maybe of the death of his childhood, his innocence, and his belief in an ideal world.
The three poems I have commented on are very different yet they still have similarities. For example, two of the poems are written specifically about his childhood, and the third one links in. They tell of his loss of innocence, ‘The Early Purges’ tells us of his loss of sentimentality, loss of idealism as he grows up ‘bloody pups’, ‘Blackberry Picking’ tells us of his loss of optimism and idealism ‘… each year I hoped… knew they would not…’
‘The past is another country and they do things differently there’ This is a very true phrase. Heaney’s has a very different past from us. Therefore, his poems even though some have been written fairly recently, can only be related to in context. People living an urban life and childhood, would have very different views on life and death, than Heaney does in his poems. The past is certainly another country, they didn’t have the technology that we have today. And foreign countries also have different ways of living than we do.