A Comparison Of Trout and Cow in Calf by Seamus Heaney
A Comparison Of Trout and Cow in Calf by Seamus Heaney The poem "Trout" is a description of a trout's movements through a river. It uses much repeated imagery and similes to achieve this description of the trout. The poem is made up of four stanzas, each of four lines, and then a single isolated line at the end of the poem. The poem has no regular rhyme scheme, however, it does contain one internal rhyme in the third stanza: "Where the water unravels/ over gravel-beds" The rhythm of the poem is irregular; Heaney uses punctuation and enjambment to achieve this irregularity. At the beginning on the first and fourth stanzas he uses punctuation to isolate the first word of these stanzas, changing the natural rhythm of the poem. I will now examine "Trout" in detail, line by line. Heaney uses two pieces of imagery on the first line: "Hangs, a fat gun-barrel" The word "Hangs" is isolated from the rest of the line by the comma which follows it. This gives us an image of isolation or suspension, this is interesting because the word "Hangs" gives us an image of isolation or suspension. This use of punctuation helps to change the rhythm of the line, making it irregular. The rest of the line is a metaphor, Heaney is likening the body of a trout to "a fat gun-barrel". This gives us an image of the trout being like a gun, not in just the shape of it, but also the destructive
How does Seamus Heaney present his childhood in the poems "Follower" and "Mid-Term Break".
Matthew Barrett How does Seamus Heaney present his childhood in the poems "Follower" and "Mid-Term Break" Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet who wrote the two poems in a similar fashion. Heaney clearly wrote about different aspects and experiences of his childhood. The two poems I have studied are "Follower" and "Mid-Term Break". Both of the poems have ironic, interesting titles. The title "Follower" is used to describe Heaney's unusual relationship with his father. Heaney, as a young boy, grew up around his father, who was always working on their farm. Heaney may have applied the word "Follower" to describe how he used to regard his father as a hero or as someone he could emulate. In the poem he wrote, "I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake" which can be interpreted as to "Follow" in his footsteps. The title "Mid-Term Break" is very ironic. The reader is at once tricked into believing that the poem will be about Heaney's happy memories from his school holidays. This is not so as the poem is actually about how Heaney is going home to the funeral of his brother: A quite sad and dramatic event in his childhood. "Follower" and "Mid-Term Break" are both about Heaney and his relationship with his family. The poem "Follower" describes his relationship with his father. "Mid-Term Break" is all about the dramatic death of his younger brother during the holiday period. Seamus Heaney
Compare 'Digging' and 'Follower' by Seamus Heany
. Compare the ways in which 'Follower' and 'Digging' explore the theme of changes due to passing time Both 'Follower' and 'Digging' explore the theme of changes due to passing time. 'Follower' begins in the past tense, which demonstrates Heaney looking back into his past; whereas 'Digging' begins in the present tense, which suggests he is looking at his current situation whilst reflecting on memories and childhood experiences. The title 'Digging' explores the theme of changes due to passing time, as Heaney knows that he has no spade to follow men like his father and grandfather-he is a writer, not a farmer so will dig with his pen. Throughout the poem, Heaney draws close emphasis to childhood experiences, detailing sensory images, which suggest that these memories are important to him as he remembers them so clearly. Therefore, this suggests that the idea of 'digging' represents Heaney digging though his past and him digging into the English language to say and express what he wants to say, as words are now his tool. Heaney uses change in tense in 'Follower' to indicate his change in views and ideas. When he remembers about his father and grandfather at work he goes into the past tense but the last two stanzas return to the present. This suggests that his life on the farm as a child is in his past and he has a new life. He doesn't want to 'handle the spade' like his
Consider how Seanus Heany provides us with a view of his childhood in the following poems: Digging, Death of a Naturalist follower, blackberry picking, The barn and mid term break
Consider how Seanus Heany provides us with a view of his childhood in the following poems: Digging, Death of a Naturalist, follower, blackberry picking, The barn and mid term break Sheanus Heany was born in 1939 on a farm in County Derry, Northern Ireland. His poetry is based on the landscape in his farm from his childhood. In his life there is one key feature that changed him from the rest of his family. This was the level of education that he obtained. He went to a decent school unlike his family that enabled him to write and not farm. He is currently a professor of poetry at Oxford. There are two large symbolic features in his poetry. Firstly, the danger in the countryside could be said to represent the danger in Northern Island at the time. Secondly, there is a strong sense of division in his family, which could be linked with Heany growing up in a divided country. His first poem in the Death of a Naturalist is very important. The purpose of it is to symbolise and introduce his circumstances. 'Between my finger and thumb the squat pen rests'. Look at this first sentence. It is telling you he is a writer. He is telling you that the pen rests. This means that he is comfortable with it. In a way he is saying that the pen belongs in his hand. Then he goes on to write 'snug as a gun'. A gun is a weapon. Something used for destruction which poetry is not. But, If you look
The poem 'My First Sonne'was written by Ben Jonson. 'The poem is a first hand experience from the father, which his one and only son died. In the poem 'Mid-Term Back' written by Seamus Heaney, the author focuses
Comparing the poems 'My First Sonne' and 'Mi-Term Back' In this essay I am going to compare 'My First Sonne' and 'Mid-Term Back'. The poem 'My First Sonne'was written by Ben Jonson. 'The poem is a first hand experience from the father, which his one and only son died. In the poem 'Mid-Term Back' written by Seamus Heaney, the author focuses on his younger brother's death in a tragic car accident. Both poems relate to the parent relationships to children and the death of a family member. Heaney's image of 'Polly bruise' is suggestive of respect for the death of the young child. The older brother sounds confused 'The bumper knocked him clear', this suggests that the child doesn't understand why he died as he only had one bruise. The 'poppy' is an image of young life lost. It's a strong metaphor as the poppy is a mark of respect for those who died in the war, unusual death of a young child. The 'poppy' is classed as a wild random growing flower, so it suggests that the death was a shock. The poem shows a clear sign of sadness, 'My father's crying'. Its hard for the older brother to cope with seeing his father cry because his finding the death hard to cope with. The family support and comforts each other. 'As my mother held my hand', this implies that their feel they'll all get through it together and care about the remaining members of the family but will never forget the
Sunil Mirpuri
Sunil Mirpuri September 27th, 2006 IB English HLII Commentary Punishment Seamus Heaney's poem "Punishment" illustrates the revival of history through the eyes of an empathetic narrator and a two-thousand year old mummy. Throughout the poem, Heaney uses a very descriptive and imaginative language in order to create a tone of sympathy towards the reader; nevertheless, this tone is accompanied by a tone of adoration and admiration towards the bog girl. However, by the end of the poem, the narrator completely changes his tone from admiration to understanding and empathy for the killing of the girl. Seamus Heaney uses detailed images, a very descriptive style of diction and a simple form of structure in order to emphasize the narrator's changes in tones and attitude throughout "Punishment." The diction in "Punishment" embodies a very detailed yet grotesque style of writing. The entire poem is a description of the York Girl, a two-thousand year old petrified body which had been preserved under the earth and then dug up in 1817 in Holland. Heaney gives this fossil life through his diction by describing the state she was in when they dug her up. Heaney starts the poem using words like "tug," "halter," "nape," "neck," and "naked" in order to immediately establish a dark and gruesome yet depressing tone. Heaney's desire is to make the reader feel an emotion of sympathy towards the
Mid-Term Break By Seamus Heaney
Mid-Term Break By Seamus Heaney I have reacently read and studied the poem "Mid Term Break" and this essay I am going to explain in detail how the poet Seamus Heaney uses form, vocabulary and technical devices to help convey his meaning. The title "Mid-Term Break" sounds rather ambiguous, happy and sad all at the same time and has been chosen very well. The title at a first glance seems rather boring and dull but once you have read the whole poem you understand why the poet has chosen these words and why they fit so well in tune with the rest of the poem. I think this is mainly because of the happy and sad meaning involved with the title. In the opening stanza Heaney tells us how he, "sat all morning in the college sick bay". Which suggests a rather boring time but this develops into a more sad and serious time which is a rather large and serious mood change. He also talks about, "bells knelling", which in itself sums up most of the poem. As well at this he talks about the time and in many peoples minds constantly looking at a clock may be a sign of boredom and impatience. In the next stanza, stanza two, the mood id that of a very serious nature the writer expresses this by using dashes, " in the porch I met my father crying-..." I think he does this to create a solemn pause and also to show how hard it was for him to come to terms with what had happen in the recent
Discuss how Seamus Heaney presents childhood in "Death of a naturalist" and "Mid term break".
Discuss how Seamus Heaney presents childhood in "Death of a naturalist" and "Mid term break". The poet Seamus Heaney is describing to incidents from childhood. "Mid term break" depicts the sombre affair of a child's death. "Death of a naturalist" on the other hand tells us of a happy event. Although the two poems are written by Seamus Heaney they are not alike, death of a naturalist for example is about a boy and his interest in nature at school. Mid term break tells us about a young boy and his brother dying in his family. The narrators of both poems are young boys who are both describing an incident from the past. The narrator of death of a naturalist is describing a nature lesson at school and is linking nature to growing up e.g. describing the tadpoles turning into frogs. Mid term break is totally the opposite the narrator is a young lad from a big family and his brother has died he describes his feelings and the hardship he and his family are going through. At the beginning of Death of a Naturalist the mood starts quite low and down putting it uses word such as festered, heavy headed, rotten, sweltered and punishing. The poem opens with an evocation of a summer landscape which has the immediacy of an actual childhood experience. There is also a sense of exploration in "in the heart/Of the townland;" which is consistent with the idea of learning and exploration
Compare the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost
Compare the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost After reading the poems 'Mid-Term Break' by Seamus Heaney and ' 'Out Out- ' ' by Robert Frost I am able to point out many similarities between the poems but also a number of differences. The first of these similarities is the theme. Both poems focus on the death of a young boy. However both offer very different treatments of that theme. 'Mid-Term Break' focuses on the aftermath of a terrible accident where Seamus Heaney chooses to focus his attention on the emotional responses of his friends and family while ' 'Out Out- ' ' shows the reader the accident as it happens in almost a running commentary style. 'Mid-Term Break' offers a much more emotional outlook on such a bleak subject, emphasising on the importance of life. ' 'Out Out- ' ' is hard-hitting in a different way. The lack of emotion in the poem is used effectively to help portray the much more negative message that Robert Frost is trying to express. In 'Mid-Term Break', Seamus Heaney tries to tell the reader about everybody's rite of passage, the importance and sanctity of life. Heaney emphasises throughout the poem that his brother's life was thrown away, he was cut off in his prime. The poem starts off by describing Heaney in his college sick-bay. At this point in the poem we don't know what has happened but it is clear that
"Compare and Contrast 'Catrin' by Gillian Clarke with 'Digging' by Seamus Heaney
"Compare and Contrast 'Catrin' by Gillian Clarke with 'Digging' by Seamus Heaney. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting 'Digging' by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney with 'Catrin' by the Welsh poet Gillian Clarke. I will begin by discussing the aspects of 'Digging' which includes the title, content, theme, setting, style, message and my own personal response. I will also explain what the two poems are about. Following the discussion of 'Digging' I will then compare it with the poem 'Catrin'. The tittle 'Digging' creates a lot of images and plans many scenarios towards what it actually stands for. What it tells me about the poem is that 'Digging' is the main feature and could be used to compare with other activities. It shows it's about people digging with shiny spades on dirty parts of land. The setting of the poem changes due to Heaney's memories of his father and grandfather. In stanza three Heaney describes where his father's place of work is situated. To do this he added the purpose towards what he is actually digging for. " Til his straining rump among the flowerbeds. The potato drills where he was digging." (Stanza 3) The thought of flowerbeds and potatoes creates images showing neatly spread out rows upon short, green beautiful grass. The flowerbeds add pride to where he is digging as it shows it's a place well kept. To me, this scenario is described in a
