Commentary on "Tollund Man" by Seamus Heaney

Authors Avatar by maika1234 (student)

Tollund Man

The poem, the Tollund man is one from Heaneys bog poems. The tollund man is a victim in Jutland that was sacrificed to the godess Nerthus, the godess of germination, to secure good crops. Heaney creates a connection with Ireland and Jutland and also contributes his own beliefs and views.

One of the main features noticed in the poem is his obsession for detail and the Tollund man itself. He uses very descriptive words, thus showing his connection and the depths of what he feels towards the tollund man. For example, he describes the tollund man precisely with words such as “peat brown head”, “mild pods of his eye lids” , “pointed skin cap”,…  these are words that evoke pity. Heaney tries to show how this sacrifice is unfair and in a way, ugly. He has a certain romance towards it, a great fascination and pity towards the Tollund man. His great fascination is shown through his pilgrimage at the beginning of the poem where he mentions “Someday I will go to Aarhus”, this making the tone expectant. However, despite this, we still find a sort of distance, he keeps himself as an observer, he remains passive. This can be shown by the line “I will stand a long time.”, which adds to the distant tone.  This can be connected to how Heaney, despite being aware of the problems in Ireland where they relied strongly on religion as well, he does not do anything of it. He keeps himself out of the situation even though he says “I”. (obsession of detail being “naked” “cap,noose…”)

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The structure is divided to 3 parts of 5 stanzas, 3 stanzas and another 3 stanzas. Each stanza brings out something different…This brings out a great amount of enjambment which allows for the emphasis on some lines. The structure and lack of caesura and rhyme scheme also gives the poem a less consistent flow and contributes to the distant, captivated, tone in the poem. The syntax used .. The alliteration..

The reader may find the themes of religion, earth and fertility surrounds the poem. Religion is shown very strongly by references to christianity and the way old rituals ...

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