What do we learn about Seamus Heaneys childhood from blackberry picking, the early purges and the follower?

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What do we learn about Seamus Heaneys childhood from blackberry picking, the early purges and the follower

Heaney begins the narrative of his poem by describing how the berries ripened in late august. It would cause great excitement in the children of his native Irish village.

The blackberries would ripen very slowly;

'At first just one' Heaney highlights how the right berries stand out amongst the 'other red green' by comparing them to a ;

'purple clot' his use of a metaphor here explains how juicy and think the ripe berry looks.

The poets use of a rhymed couplet makes the line stand out just like the berries do amongst the unripened ones.

By using personification Heaney makes the audience identify with the action in the poem when the berry is eaten is eaten the juice and flesh were;

'like thickened wined' by using this simile the poet compares the dark berry to an intoxicating drink he implies that the fruit makes the children 'drunk' with the blood of summer. Subsequently, when Heaney describes the berries as having 'inked up' he conveys an impression of darkness of