The next stanza of part one illustrates the poet’s interactions with the drinker. The stanza commences with a little ambiguity as the lines “Incomprehensible / To him, my other life” can be read in two ways due to the use of run-on line. It could be read as the drinker being the poet’s other life, which was incomprehensible to the poet, or as the poet’s other life, his life outside the pub, being incomprehensible to the drinker. This is followed by another strong image of the fisherman: “Too busy with his knife / At a tobacco plug”. Part one of the poem also uses rhyme to help with the flow of the poem. The rhyme structure has nearly every second line rhyming. Overall, the stanza, has a very intimate feeling created by lines such as “We would be on our own” and “And shy of condescension”, showing how they did not see each other as poet and fisherman, but rather as drinking companions. The language also suggests that the poet liked to keep his working life away from the pub. He wanted the bar to be an escape where he could discuss other things such as politics and nonsense. The full stop after the line, “Or the Provisionals”, creates a pause on the word “Provisionals”, and thus, emphasises the political problem.
The third stanza of the first part commences with the poet giving himself some self-mockery as his “tentative art” is observed by the drinker’s observant “turned back”. This could be the poet suggesting that though the drinker may not be a very educated person, he can see and feel what is going on in the world around him politically. This is quite ironic as the plosive “b” sound and alliteration in “blown to bits” emphasises the shock felt by the reader from the sudden change in tone as we realise that the astute drinker was killed because of his weakness for alcohol which lead him to ignore the “curfew / Others obeyed”. Here Heaney places this in a political and historical context with the reference to “Bloody Sunday” but underscores the horror of this in quoting graffiti: “PARAS THIRTEEN … / BOGSIDE NIL”. Although this makes the whole political struggle appear to be a sporting competition, the concluding lines emphasise the extent of the actual event with the lines: “Everyone held / His breath and trembled”
Part one has a very laconic tone, perhaps used by Heaney to convey the way drinkers talk – not saying much, but very aware of what’s going around them. Through conveying how the drinker is observant, the reader can feel how observant Heaney is too. In part one the poet greatly uses the device of mockery, both personal and political, to covey his underlying thoughts and political message to the audience, while at the same time, giving a wonderful warm impression of the fisherman.
The second part of the poem has a much more somber tone. It commences with vivid description of nature. The word “Raw” used to describe the silence is highly effective at it suggest that the silence was natural, and not forced upon the people, thus creating a still atmosphere. The imagery of the priest’s soutane whipping in the wind is also highly vivid. The stanza also has many references to water images. We can almost see how the coffins would monotonously float one after the other on a sea of people formed by the crowd “Like blossoms on slow water”. This creating a solemn feeling that is projected to the audience.
The following lines of the stanza convey the confinement of the Irish Catholics under Protestant power. The use of the word “tightening” depicts an image of a heard of animals being round up, and so, the Catholics, like the heard of animals, are “bound” together, powerless by the Protestants. The line “Like brothers in a ring” further emphasises this point. The use of the word “brother” conveys a common link between the people, the link of being of one religion. The use of the word “ring” conveys the image of a confining cage. From this the reader can feel the tension that Protestant power is causing, and thus, sympathise with the Catholics because of their helplessness. However, the use of the word “ring” also conveys a sense of strength, as if the hardship felt by the Irish Catholics has made them bond together to become stronger.
The next stanza of the second section commences with: “he would not be held”. This is juxtaposed with “his own crowd” whom, in the face of such horror, had been scared into hiding. The fisherman’s obstinate nature is emphasised by the repetition “Whatever threats were phoned, / Whatever black flags were waved.” These lines appears to be the fisherman’s friends and family threatening him, so that he will not leave his house to go quench his addiction. These portray more a sense of stubbornness caused by addiction to alcohol, rather than a sense of bravery and defiance of Protestants power, and in that sense, we pity the fisherman. The “black flags” symbolise death, and thus, seem to foreshadow what is to come. Again Heaney uses the device of shock, right after the image “I see him as he turned”, we art old that the bar he went to was “bombed”. This description is deepened by the line: “In his still knowable face” which conveys that this is a real person, still known and loved by his friends and family, and therefore, cannot be treated like pawn in political argument. The image becomes more gruesome minds of the readers in the next line “His cornered outfaced stare”. Thus, conveying the horror of the situation to the reader.
The poem then softens, and returns to a feeling of warmth. “He had gone miles away” suggest that he had gone all the way into the country so that he could drink. The enormity of his addiction is depicted by the metaphor “he drank like a fish”. This metaphor, like the “drinking Irishman”, is very much a cliché and thus, creates a sense of familiarity with the audience. This fish like image established for the fisherman is also carried on throughout the rest of the poem. This fish like image is further conveyed by the lines “Swimming towards the lure / Of warm lit-up places”. These lines transmit a very vivid image of fish swimming towards the attractiveness of warmer places to escape the cold of the Protestants. A feeling of warmth and comfort is them established about the atmosphere of the bar, the groggy, smoky atmosphere with the “blurred mesh and murmur”, “gregarious smoke” that is so attractive to a drinker.
The poet then poses an unanswerable question: “How culpable was he / That last night when he broke / Our tribe’s complicity?” Though an obvious question, the poet then realises that it is unanswerable; his guiltiness was driven by the lure of the bottle. Heaney answers the blank question with some self-mockery, he does this by quoting the words of the drinker: “Now, you’re supposed to be / An educated man”. This statement is ironic, as Heaney can’t answer this question. The last two lines of the second section again hold some ambiguity: “I hear him say. “Puzzle me / The right answer to that one.” This could be read as Heaney replying “Puzzle me the right answer to that one”, or the fisherman adding this comment to his original statement.
The second part of the poem conveys a rather sombre feeling that ca be felt by the audiences. In it, the poet establishes the great deal of admiration and affection he felt for his now-dead companion. This section of the poem also conveys much of the political message that the poet wanted to communicate though the poem, the tension, the restriction and the pain that is caused by Protestant power over the Irish Catholics.
The third section of the poem is of the fisherman’s funeral. Heaney speaks with a tone of regret in this section, especially in the first line “I missed his funeral”. The fish image is again captured by the metaphor, “Shoaling out of his lane”, capturing the image of the funeral procession. The fish image of the scene is then juxtaposed with a cat image the “Purring of the hearse”, which seem to suggest the serenity of the atmosphere, an atmosphere where even the cat does not disturb the fish. The muted image is furthered in the description of the crowd moving “in equal pace”. A slight political message is then suggested though the lines: “With the habitual / Slow consolation / Of a dawdling engine”. We feel that the funerals have be come a very common thing to the Irish Catholics, many deaths caused by the fighting, and thus, the enormity of the situation is depicted.
The line “I was taken in his boat” seems to suggest that the reason he missed the fisherman’s funeral was because he was in his boat. Heaney uses the words “was taken” and thus, we gain a sense that Heaney felt that the sprit of the fishermen was taking him out in his boat. Heaney then gives a vivid image of the boat, “The screw purling, turning / Indolent fathoms white”, from this we can almost feel the coarseness of ride. “I tasted freedom with him” suggests that he felt the freedom that the fisherman felt on open sea as well as the freedom the fisherman now felt away from Protistan power.
The fisherman’s work is described as a constant rhythm: “The get the early haul” “Dispraise the catch, and smile / As you find a rhythm”. It can be felt that the poet had a great admiration for the fisherman’s work. The sense of freedom is further conveyed by the idea the fishing is an escape from the city; you travel farther and farther away from the tension of city for your catch “Somewhere, well out, beyond…”. The poet ends the stanza by trailing off, capturing a sense of unendingness, further suggesting that the fisherman is now out in his “proper haunt”, a place somewhere, “well out, beyond…”.
The poem concludes with a triplet of lines that reminisce previous part of the poem. “Dawn-sniffing revenant, / Plodder through midnight rain, / Question me again.” The description “Dawn-sniffing” refers to the early leave wake of a fisherman’s life, out early to get a good catch, sniffing like a dog to search for the fish. “Plodder through midnight rain” refers to the man’s never-ending need to quench his alcohol addiction, no matter the time, or the weather. The poem concludes is a highly emotional tome with the line: “Question me again”. Clearly, the poet missed the fisherman’s companionship and presence.
This three-part poem is highly emotive in the depiction of the loss of a much-admired companion. Furthermore, through the descriptions the poet is able to convey his political message: the tension between the Irish Protestants and Catholics can only lead to further pain.
