Heaney has referred to the ancient tribal practices as "providing imaginative parallels to modern Irish politics" Examine punishment and two other poems in light of this statement.

 The fact that the Iron Aged woman was sacrificed meant she was killed for reason and the same can be said for the killings that go on in Ireland.  Heaney understands the tribal brutality that is connected with the murders as he himself has seen it in Ireland.  However he admits his weakness saying that in both times he would be the one to cast “the stones of silence”.  Heaney acknowledges the human condition of mob mentality and draws a parallel between modern Ireland and this sacrifice.  Heaney tells the listener that while he is silently “outraged” he understands the “exact and tribal, intimate revenge” and that there is no difference between what went on the streets of Ireland and what the sacrifices in ancient Europe.  Heaney displays to the listener the elements which cause this tribal ritual mentioning “betraying sisters” this could mean sisters in Ireland betraying each other under the war circumstances.  It could also be sisters in ancient Europe as the allowed another to be sacrificed.  This idea of allowing brutality in a group is paralleled between the two societies by Heaney in several of his poems.   Heaney draws severe similarities between the “sacrificed” and the “punished”.  He refers to the bog person as “tar faced” this has a strong connection with the punishment where IRA would tar victims and the feather them.  The due to the transformation in the bog the women now looks like has a “shaved head like a stubble of black corn”.  This lines draws the likeness with troubles in Ireland as a before killing a women she would first have her head shaved.

Similarly in “Strange Fruit” Heaney uses the recurring theme of people preserved in bogs to parallel modern day attitudes.  Heaney refers to Roman culture “Diodorus Siculus …likes of this”.  In the Roman Empire killing was a casual occurrence due to barbarism.  Heaney feels a connection because he grew up in a culture of killings and martyrdom.  Heaney feels this tribal ritual of Rome is be repeating in Ireland now as innocent people die for their beliefs. Heaney refers to martyrdom referring to those murdered in Rome as “beatification”.  Heaney has connected this martyrdom with the religious war in Ireland as people are still dying for being different.  There is also a certain admiration in death that Heaney can see in both cultures.  This bog person is a physical manifestation of death and Heaney feels a voyeuristic delight.  He praises her beauty “an exhibition… her leathery beauty”.  This is description of beauty is juxtaposed to the poems main theme of death.  It shows the listener that Heaney understands the killing yet does not agree with it.  Heaney further shows this understanding as he finishes by pointing out the “reverence” they take in the killing.  Like the sacrifice in “Punishment” killing has become a way of life for both cultures drawing a parallel between ancient rituals and modern Irish politics.  

This understanding of death is further seen in “ The Tollund Man” where Heaney once more uses a bog person to parallel the modern Irish troubles with the ancient rituals in Denmark.  Heaney uses sudden time shifts to emphasise the similarities in the two cultures.  He starts the poem in ancient Denmark retelling the relationship between the sacrificed and the bog.  He sees it as a marriage between man and the land: “Bridegroom to the goddess”.  Having built up a great atmosphere around the Danish culture using the native tongue “Reposes at Aarhus” Heaney suddenly turns to Ireland.  He uses the real example of “four young brothers trailed for miles” to bring forth the idea that we as humans have not progressed.  He is also suggesting that murder is a human quality that will always be with us.  Heaney sees it in the ancient Denmark through the “Tollund Man” and he has grown up with it in Ireland.  

Heaney uses the bog people as a vessel to parallel the troubles in Ireland with ancient tribal practices.  The similarities are stark yet subtle and Heaney writes with a remarkable use of the English language to parallel the two cultures and reflect humanity.