For example:
“I will stand a long time.”
And
“Unhappy and at home.”
Both of these examples seem definite. He does this to add emphasis to certain lines and phrases.
A caesura is a conscious break in a line of poetry. Seamus Heaney doesn’t use a caesura in this poem because he wants the poem to be of a certain pace. The only real use of a caesura in “The Tollund Man” is
“Tollund, Graubelle, Nebelgard,”
Which is used in one of the final stanzas. By doing this, it reinforces one of the meanings of the poems, and reminds us of the topic.
Heaney uses personal pronouns. He also uses the term ‘Him’ (with a capital ‘H’) in “The Tollund Man”.
“Him to a saint’s kept body,”
It’s as though Heaney is idolising him.
Other than the ones pointed out, there are no other significant punctuation devices on this poem. This could possibly be because the simple ness of the poem keeps the poem at a steady pace.
The poem “Strange Fruit”, which is the second poem I wish to study is written in one stanza, which contains 14 lines. The “Strange Fruit” is a sonnet, with nearly always 10 syllables in each line. It is also a free verse.
“Here is the girl’s head
like an exhumed gourd.”
By doing this, it provides a strong rhythm.
Poem B differs from Poem A. Poem B, “Strange Fruit”, has a more distinct shape with only 14 lines. It is a sonnet. Poem A contains stanzas and doesn’t have as much of a distinct shape’s seeing as there are 3 different sections of the poem with a different amount of stanzas in each one. Another difference is structural devices. There are a few structural devices used in “Strange Fruit”, enjambment being one of them. An example of this is:
“Outstaring axe and beautification”
I think Seamus Heaney used this technique to speed up the poem. He may have wanted it at a fast pace because it is describing an unpleasant thing and he wants to be swift about it. Another technique is end stopping.
“What had begun to feel like reverence.”
The use of end stopping emphasises what had just been said, and it also slows down the pace of the poem, which also causes emphasis on certain words and phrases.
“Strange Fruit” contains a lot of internal rhyme. For example:
“Pash of tallow, perishable treasure:”
This phrase contains the letter “a” repeatedly. By doing this, I think it softens the mind picture of the head which has just been found with the use of the ‘a.’ I noticed that the word ‘outstaring’ has been used more than once in two lines. Evidence of this is here:
“Beheaded girl, outstaring axe
And beautification, outstaring.”
By doing this, it adds depth to the meaning of this word. It emphasises it.
This poem, as you can also see from the above quote, uses many commas. As it does with end stopping, commas slow down the pace of the poem, emphasising certain words. From the above quote, it adds emphasis to the word ‘outstaring.’
The poem reads:
“Pash of tallow, perishable treasure:”
And then reads on to say:
“Her broken nose is dark as a turf clod,”
As you can see, the colon used seems to end the nice things about the head and is now being spoken in nasty, ugly terms. As if the poet is now speaking about what he really wants us to know instead of the nice stuff.
Both of the poems, “The Tollund Man” and “Strange Fruit” use enjambment. And both poems use many commas and end stops but even with this, they are entirely different poems compared to each other.
Figurative language is used in nearly everything we read or write.
In poem A, many metaphors are used throughout. A few examples of this are:
“She tightened her torn on him
And opened her fen,
Those dark juices working
Him to a saint’s kept body,”
This whole stanza in “The Tollund Man” is a sexual metaphor, a sexual connotation. It also suggests that he died for religious meanings. A few other metaphors are:
“Tell-tale skin and teeth”
And
“old man-killing parishes.”
Another technique used is an oxymoron.
E.g. “Sad freedom”
This could also be called antithesis. Antithesis is a contrast of ideas or words that are balanced against each other.
The use of the oxymoron shows the negative side of the poem. The fact is this body was killed brutally and that fact can be often hidden but with the use of figurative language the truth can be unleashed again.
The imagery conveys the real meaning of the poem. That is not to discuss the body but to find the real reason why there is trouble with the IRA in Ireland.
Some negative imagery in “The Tollund Man” is:
“The scattered, ambushed
flesh of labourers”
And
“Tell-tale skin and teeth.”
This is negative imagery because it isn’t pleasant to only know the bodies through these things.
The poet addresses the poem in 1st person in “The Tollund Man.” The use of 1st person makes it very direct and personal.
“I will feel lost”
This creates a feeling on the part of the reader of sharing the particular experience being described, empathy. It makes the overall formality of the text seem very formal.
“I could risk the blasphemy.”
In this quote, with the use of ‘I’, it could also make the reader feel guilty.
In comparison to poem 1, “The Tollund Man”, “Strange Fruit” uses many more similes. Similes add extra depth into the writing. Within the first line, a simile is used.
“Here is the girls head like an exhumed gourd”
Her head, here, is being compared to a gourd, which is a fruit. It then swiftly moves on to describe the colour of her skin and teeth.
“Prune-skinned, prune stones for teeth.”
As you can see, the word ‘prune’ is repeated twice. This adds emphasis to the word and henceforth, adds emphasis to the colouring of the body. It gives a story. It then continues to move n to the line,
“Pash of tallow, perishable…”
This contains internal rhyme.
After that, the name of a person is brought in. This name is “Diodorus Sicilus.
“Diodorus Siculus confessed.”
This gives a classical allusion. Diodorus Siciulus was a roman emperor that confessed that once you’ve killed someone, it’s not as much as a big deal to do it again. By Seamus Heaney adding the name into the poem, it allows more depth to the poem.
All of the figurative language used in this poem helps convey what the body looked like and how it was killed. It suggests that the killing of the body cannot be seen as art even though it’s been, ‘put on display.’ It also says that you can get used to anything after a while, even killing. The figurative language releases the concept of imagery.
The imagery conveys the real meaning of the poem, and that is someone was killed, possible for religious reasons. The poem, “Strange Fruit”, is written in 3rd person. Heaney wrote it in the 3rd person to give a bit of distance between the reader and the poem. This could possibly have been done because the poem is so nasty. The poem is written very formally.
“His gradual ease among the likes of this:”
It’s as if it makes the reader too scared to jump straight into the poem but instead have to take an outlook on it.
There are many similarities between “Strange Fruit” and “The Tollund Man.” For instance, they both contain brutal killing. However, they both died for different reasons. In “The Tollund Man”, it suggests he died for religious reasons in a ritual killing. There are similarities in the tonality but a different in the structure and overall mood. “The Tollund Man” offers the most radical and complex statements about the renewal of sectarian offence.
In “Strange Fruit”, the beheaded girl resists all poetic attempts at ‘beautification,’ that impulse which initiates the sequence in “The Tollund Man” in which the corpse is read as a ‘saints kept body.’ “Strange Fruit” is intensely, even claustrophobically obsessive and intimate.
The overall mood of “Strange Fruit” is very depressing.
“His gradual ease among the likes of this:
Murdered, forgotten, nameless, terrible.”
This quote proves this statement.
With the use of these poems, you can learn and understand more about the political situation in Northern Ireland. And that is the sectarian offences in Northern Ireland.
Ireland was a full Catholic country. England invaded them and tried to spread Protestantism and tried to abolish Catholicism. England felt this way because England was a part of the UK, and so was Ireland so they tried to make the whole of the UK the same. Some Irish opposed this. A prime example of this is the IRA.
Even today, there are many sectarian offences. There was a young 15 year old, Catholic boy killed while he was getting a pizza last week just for his beliefs. This is a clear example that there is still a clear divide in Northern Ireland today. Seamus Heaney demonstrates this in the poems, “Strange Fruit” and “The Tollund Man.” In “The Tollund Man” it says:
“Tell-tale skin and teeth
Flecking the sleepers
Of four young brothers, trailed
For miles along the lines.”
This is a reference to the death of 4 Catholic teenagers who would only be identified by their skin and teeth.
It also says:
“Of country people,
Not knowing their tongue.”
In this, he comments about him not understanding the language they speak as if it was a foreign language. This suggests he might also feel a foreigner in his own country.
The last two sentences he says in the whole of “The Tollund Man” is:
“I will feel lost,
Unhappy and at home.”
This is a paradoxical ending. He recognises the old society is there’s. It also suggests he doesn’t feel safe at home anymore.
Heaney often uses men as victims in his poems and he does in “Strange Fruit.”
Heaney conveys his own religious and philosophical beliefs in “Strange Fruit.” He says:
“Beheaded girl, outstaring axe.”
This identifies that he now has no belief in religion anymore. This could be because he’s seen such horror that there can’t be a God otherwise this could never have happened. He constantly questions his belief.
Heaney was born and brought up in Northern Ireland and witnessed numerous violent scenes while growing up. Which, with no doubt, inspired him to write a lot of his poems. He’s known for writing poems about his childhood and the environment he knew from birth.
It also shows he’s Catholic through his poems.
The poet, Seamus Heaney, in both poems wants us to experience what life would be like living in Northern Ireland by reading his poetry. He wants the reader to know how brutally people were killed. He also wants us to understand about bog bodies and the history behind them. A lot of the bog bodies he writes about are Christian, which, of course, is his religion. Which brings me on to say why he is so interested in Bog Bodies. The reason is that Seamus Heaney is trying to find out why violence is so common, and why people find it necessary. The main similarities between “The Tollund Man” and “Strange Fruit” are that they’re both containing violence due to their religion. However, “The Tollund Man” has a much nicer death in comparison to “Strange Fruit.” This is why they are different.
Heaney is very pre-occupied with violence and nearly all of his poems have violence in them. This could be because he was brought up with violence happening continuously around him. He’s also very faithful to God but he had the question of ‘Why does God let this happen?’ through his mind. Both poems have contributed a lot to my understanding of Irish culture, history and politics. I now know how brutal the killings were, how violent they were. I also learnt about sectarian offence and how religion and beliefs can cause so much trouble.
Out of the poems, “Strange Fruit” and “The Tollund Man”, I consider “Strange Fruit” to be the most successful. It uses simple punctuation, but makes sure it’s enough to grasp the reader’s attention. I like the fact that it has Diodorus Siculus mentioned.
Overall, Strange Fruit is my favourite.
