sentimental about the kittens but later in life these feelings will be cleansed away from him. The
title tells us this because Seamus is only six years of age which coincides with the “early” part
of the title and his feelings being cleansed away is where the “purges” comes into play. For the
message in the final stanza, The “Early Purges” reinforces that all the ‘kittens and puppies’
have to be got rid of.
At the beginning of the poem the messages are embodied and dramatised in the persons
of Dan Taggart and the six-year-old Heaney.
Dan Taggart is a very aggressive person. Seamus skilfully tells us what sort of character
Dan is going to be. He very carefully picks the name “Dan Taggart” because of the fact that it
has plosive sounds which perfectly coincides with what actions he carries out later in the poem.
The way Dan Taggart “pitched” the kittens, from which we get the impression that all he wants
to do is to turn into a game, it also gives the impression of a pitchfork being used which turns the
drowning into an ordinary farmyard chore. “The scraggy wee shits” from this statement we
can understand that he does not care the slightest about the kittens, or anything that happens to
them. Seamus Heaney very skilfully interprets the actions by the rhythm of, “They were slung
on the snout of the pump and the water pumped in.” This suggests Taggart’s aggressive
stance. The rhythm of this line imitates the actions of the pumping. We know this just by the way
he kills the pests on the farm, in a very sadistic way “with a sickening tug, pulled old hens’
necks.” “Sure isn’t it better for them now?” This again proves that Dan Taggart does not
care in the slightest about the poor kittens. Taggart is merely justifying himself.
Seamus Heaney has very upsetting feelings, some of which are stated explicitly. He was
“Suddenly frightened” and later on in the same verse He says how “sadly” he hung about the
yard. When Dan “trapped big rats” the feelings came back to Seamus. “ But the fear came
back.”
Seamus also has implicit feelings. In the first verse of the first stanza he says “ I was six
when I first saw kittens drown.” From this verse we can gather a lot of information. The word
“six” which sounds like ‘sick’ and suggests how physically sickened he was to be witnessing
this act of cruelty. Also in this first verse there are sibilant plosive sounds which clearly indicate
his anger. “I was six when I first saw kittens drown” In the first verse, Seamus says he was
six, which reminds of the children’s book “Now We Are Six,” by A. A. Milne. This book
introduces to the world, a distinct contact to what Heaney is witnessing. There are some
disturbing memories going through this head. He remembers, “Soft paws scraping like mad”
which must have been a horrible sound and a “tiny din” suggests the empathy. The image of
the poor kittens is stuck in Seamus’ head. “They bobbed and shone:” this is a perfect example
of the image that is still stuck in his mind. We also find out how many kittens were actually
sacrificed, “three kittens.”
“The Early Purges” tells us much about Seamus Heaney and also Dan Taggart. The
attitude of Dan Taggart is one of which is consistent throughout. However it is not the same for
Heaney. At the start of the poem we gather that Seamus is absolutely sick and horrified by the
actions of Dan Taggart to the poor kittens. Then later on we can gather that his attitude changes
dramatically, “And now when shrill pups are prodded to drown I just shrug, ‘Bloody
Pups.’ It makes sense. This is a total contrast towrads the feelings that he has at the start. The
poem finishes whilst we are still thinking whether the change that Seams Heaney made was a
positive or a negative one.
