Digging Seamus Heaney was born on April 13, 1939, on a farm in Castledawson, County Derry, Northern
Digging Seamus Heaney was born on April 13, 1939, on a farm in Castledawson, County Derry, Northern Ireland, the eldest of eight children. In 1963, he began teaching at St. Joseph's College in Belfast. The first poem I'll be looking at is 'digging' it was written in 1966. The poem consists of 9 stanzas that vary between two lines and five lines in length. There is no pattern to the stanzas, perhaps to reflect the idea that there is no pattern or predictability to our memories. In the poem there is quite a variation in the language e.g. the title is blunt. It is only when we have read the poem carefully that we realise that all three generation are involved in digging: his grandfather dug turf, his father dug up potatoes, Heaney is digging up his memories and his past. There is quite a lot of words ending in 'ing'. 'Digging' 'Rasping' and 'Slicing' this gives the poem a feel of action like your actually there. It gives the reader the effect of being there seeing it hearing it smelling it almost touching it. It gives the poem a certain flow, the poem doesn't start and stop it flows from one stanza to another. The poem begins in the present tense as Heaney describes seeing his elderly father straining among the flowerbeds, then goes into the past tense when he remembers his father and grandfather at work. The last two stanzas return to the present, when Heaney realises that
Compare the ways Heaney writes about people and the natural world in 'Digging' and 'At the Potato Digging'. Go on to explain ways in which this theme is presented in any two of the Pre-1914 poems.
Compare the ways Heaney writes about people and the natural world in 'Digging' and 'At the Potato Digging'. Go on to explain ways in which this theme is presented in any two of the Pre-1914 poems. The main similarity about 'Digging' and 'At a Potato Digging' is that they are obviously, both about digging. But 'Digging' is about the writer's memories of his 'old man' and how well he could 'Digging'. The poem, 'At a Potato Digging' is about the potato famine. We know the writer in 'Digging' feels comfortable with his pen. He tells us it rests 'snug as a gun' in between his fingers. Later on in the poem, we find out how at home his father and grand-father were with a spade. He tells us how he admired them 'stooping in rhythm through potato drills'. It is similar to 'At a Potato Digging', by the way it shows how close the people were to nature. In 'At a Potato Digging', the people perhaps, worship the earth as the god, or worship Mother Nature. The poem mentions religion several times with peoples 'heads bowed', 'humbled knees' and the 'seasonal alter'. These people are paying 'homage to the famine god'. In the poem 'Digging', the word 'digging' becomes a metaphor, with the idea of the writer using his pen as a spade to dig up memories of how talented his father was a digging. He tells us that 'I've no spade to follow men like them', but can write about his memories, just as
Discuss how Heaney portrays images of family and country life.
Discuss how Heaney portrays images of family and country life. In this essay I will endeavour to explore all various phrases, words, metaphors and diction that contribute towards the portrayal of images regarding family and country life. I shall analyse two of Heaney's poems to gather these images, the two poems being 'Mid - Term Break', taken from 'Death of a naturalist' (Heaney's first collection), and 'Blackberry Picking'. I chose these two poems as I felt that 'Mid - Term Break' portrays family life excellently, whereas 'Blackberry Picking' is just as effective in portraying country life. This essay will also give the reader insight into the mind of Heaney as a young child, as both of the poems are written in first person narrative, his views and thoughts gathered from his childhood, yet written by Heaney as an adult looking back at his youth. I shall first focus on 'Mid - Term Break'. The title immediately suggests that something is wrong or unusual, as it is irregular to have a break during mid -term. The title because of its obscurity brings about two possible emotions. The first, curiosity, releasing the inquisition of, what's wrong? This inquiry is often found being asked by a young child to his/her mother, perhaps driven by their own sense of curiosity frequently found in young children. The second emotion evoked by the title being happiness and relief at the
Examine the influence of Heaneys childhood upon his poetry
Ashton Bayley Examine the influence of Heaneys childhood upon his poetry Introduction Seamus Heaney was born on a farm in county Derry in North Ireland on April 13th 1939 he was one of nine children. The Heaney family had lived in that area for centuries and had been farmers for generations. He grew up in the country and the countryside was a crucial focus point for his poetry, this is shown in the poems The early purges, The forge, Digging, Follower and Death of a naturalist. He grew up in a rural community which was very important to him as well as village traditions, history and religion. Nature was important to him. This is illustrated in Death of a naturalist and Follower. He looked back to the farm for inspiration in his writing when he writes about the farm in Digging and the follower. In Follower, Seamus writes about his father Patrick. Seamus had a great deal of respect and admires his father for his farming skill again this is evident in Follower. Seamus and his father separated as Seamus grew smarter and away from the farming life and towards poetry and literature. Heaney was Catholic and at school he became aware of the Catholic and Protestant problems in Ireland which later inspired him to write about politics and the problems in Ireland. Heaney wrote very realistic poems about life in the countryside and wanted to show what it was really like (rough
“Mid Term Break” by Seamus Heaney and “The Lesson” by Edward Lucie-Smith.
In the course of this essay, I will be looking closely at the particular choices of language used by the poets, comparing the ways in which the poems are written, contrasting the feeling of Heaney and Lucie-Smith about the death of a relative and considering which of the poets are more successful in getting their feeling across and why? These two poems are about two young people facing up to the death of a loved one. The two poems are "Mid Term Break" by Seamus Heaney and "The Lesson" by Edward Lucie-Smith. The two poems are about two young boys facing up to the death of a beloved family member. In "Mid Term Break" it is Heaney's younger brother who dies in a car accident. In "The Lesson" it is Lucie-Smith who receives news of his fathers death. The poets are merely children when these traumatic events occur. These poems express the feelings that the two boys experience when they lose a loved one at that time. "The Lesson" begins with Lucie-Smith at school. He is in his headmaster's study. His headmaster enters and he is looking at various objects, which are then distorted when he is told of his fathers death. The objects are distorted because he is crying. He cries, yet he doesn't cry tears of grief. He then cries in shame because he wasn't emotional for his father. He then was crying tears of relief because he was crying for his father. His emotions run wild. He and the
How does the feeling of loss exist in all four of these poems?
How does the feeling of loss exist in all four of these poems? I am comparing "On my first Sonne" by Ben Jonson (a pre-1914 piece of poetry, written in 1616), "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning (a pre-1914 piece of poetry, written in 1845), "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney (a piece of poetry from the Heaney bank) and "Cold Knap Lake" by Gillian Clarke (a piece of poetry from the Clarke bank). The poem, "On my first Sonne" is about the loss of a close family member, Ben Jonson's first son, who died at the age of seven. The poem is about the poet coming to terms with the truth, that his first son had died and he would never see him again. In the poem, the poet goes through different stages of grief and he is very emotional about his loss. The poem opens on an emotional note, "Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy." Even though, in the 1600's, the death of a child was very common, the poet expresses deep sorrow for his loss. He talks about how he committed a sin: of loving his son too much when his son was lent to him, and he paid the price (his son died). "Seven yeeres tho'wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by thy fate, on the just day." "My Last Duchess" also deals with the loss of a close family member, the Duke's wife. The Duke shows his visitor a portrait of his late wife, which is kept behind a curtain. The
Mid-Term Break - Seamus Heany, Explain how the poet has used language to create mood and atmosphere in one poem you have studied.
Mid-term Break Essay Question: Explain how the poet has used language to create mood and atmosphere in one poem you have studied. "Mid-term Break" is an autobiographical poem by Seamus Heaney about the death of a schoolboy's four-year old brother and the reactions and atmosphere surrounding it. Heaney uses plain matter of fact language to create mood and atmosphere for the poem. The use of 'sounds' is significantly used by Heaney to convey words of condolence. The heading of the poem - "Mid-term Break" is ironic. The reader anticipates a joyful holiday break, nevertheless, Heaney has chosen these words carefully and deliberately to shock the reader as they learn that this poem is not actually about a holiday, but in fact about the death of an infant. The subtle and ambiguous title ironically sums up what the poem is about - a "break" in the life of a schoolboy's younger brother. The mood and atmosphere is subtly created within the title of the poem. A joyous mood is set to start, the atmosphere is inevitably contradicted within stanzas two to five and consequently, we are mislead to death, the opposite of what we first anticipated. In the first stanza, Heaney chooses neutral words to prepare the reader for the shock of death. Words such as "Morning," "counting," and "knelling" gives the stanza a slow beat which has the effect of time passing slowly. This is an important
Seamus Heaney & Tony Curtis.
Seamus Heaney & Tony Curtis On initial reading both the Follower and Strongman are simply about a son's relationship with their father. Whilst this relationship is a central theme of both poems, the poems also explore a range of issues including cultural identity, guilt and social class. This essay will attempt to analyse both poems individually and to also identify areas of conflict and similarity between the poems. The first two words of Follower by Seamus Heaney are "My father" which immediately establishes the poet's emotionally involved relationship with the subject of the poem. In contrast the poet of Strongman writes in the third person for the majority of the poem and it is only really in the last two lines that the poet establishes that he is addressing the poem to the son. Both poems create a vivid picture of physically strong fathers who draw on their physical strength by undertaking skilled manual jobs to support their families "My father worked with a horse-plough" and "A carpenter who could punch nails into wood with a clench fist". Seamus Heaney employs the use of a number of sea images in helping the reader to visualise the immense strength and stamina of his father's body "His shoulders globed like a full sail strung" and "Sometimes he rode me .... Dipping and rising to his plod". Similarly Tony Curtis employs powerful visual imagery to illustrate the
Many people are concerned with a sense of loss or deep sadness at a particular event. Examine the means by which a poet, in one poem, conveys either of these emotions to you.
Mid Term Break Question: Many people are concerned with a sense of loss or deep sadness at a particular event. Examine the means by which a poet, in one poem, conveys either of these emotions to you. 'Mid Term Break' by Seamus Heaney deals with the theme of death. The poem is about Heaney having going through the loss of his brother Christopher but more the loss of strength and innocence. Christopher died at the very young age of four by a horrific car crash while Heaney was away from home for his education. Heaney becomes aware of how alienated he really was from his family by this incident. Heaney's word choice effectively creates images which convey a sense of loss before the focuses on the individual who has died. His use of ''knelling'' to describe the classroom bells has obvious connotations of a funeral bell which we feel gives the reader an insight into what's to come next. It also suggests that Heaney may be preoccupied with the rituals of the funeral to be faced. Which he latter on explains in the next stanza. Heaney's word choice effectively connotes images which convey a sense of loss before he focuses on the individual who has died. The word choice of "Counting," "sick boy" "classes to a close" also work well to connote the ominous mood which dominates the opening stanza. Since, he is waiting to be driven "by neighbours" it is expressed that he feels
Comparing and contrasting two Poems on the theme of childhood By Seamus Heaney.
Comparing and contrasting two Poems on the theme of childhood By Seamus Heaney. Having read the four poems from Seamus Heaney's collection "Death of a Naturalist", I have decided to Compare and contrast the two poems that I like best, which are "Death of a naturalist" and "Follower". Both of these are childhood stories set in the countryside. These reflect how Heaney felt about different aspects of life in his surroundings. This is one of the reasons that I have chosen these two poems the idea of the countryside makes me feel at home with these two poems. They are both set in the open air, which creates an open atmosphere. "Death of a Naturalist" is the first poem I chose to write about because of the overall effectiveness of the poem. This poem has been written in paragraph like stanzas, this gives me the feel of making the poems look full of descriptions; it also looks very exiting looking at all the stanzas are crammed into one. As you look at the poem you can see effective use of vivid similes such as "Frogspawn grew like clotted Water" Frogspawn that grows like "clotted water" shows you the fullness of the frogspawn it also shows us that the frogspawn is racing and covering the pond water very fast it also gives me an impression that he enjoys seeing the frogspawn growing and covering the pond as he enjoys collecting frogspawn "I would fill jampotfuls of the
