Seamus Heaney Poems - Poem Analysis (original) (raw)
(15 to start, 50+ to explore)
Seamus Heaney, a cherished voice in poetry, left a lasting legacy with his vivid portrayals of Irish life and landscapes. His work captures the essence of his homeland and the human experience.
Heaney’s poetry, celebrated worldwide, continues to resonate with readers of all ages, ensuring his place in educational curriculums and the hearts of poetry lovers globally.
Heaney’s poem, inspired by T.P. Flanagan, explores the Irish bog as a metaphor for the deep, bottomless past and its value to contemporary Ireland.
This piece delves into the symbolism of the Irish bog, dedicating it to his friend and artist T.P. Flanagan. The bog embodies the complex layers of Ireland's history, reflecting stories and songs that reveal what the country possesses and lacks in comparison to others. The poignant ending, describing the "west centre" as "bottomless," prompts reflection on the endless well of the past and its relevance or utility to present-day Ireland, posing a contemplative question on the worth of historical depth in modern times.
We have no prairies
To slice a big sun at evening--
Everywhere the eye concedes to
Encrouching horizon,
Heaney’s ‘The Tollund Man’ links a prehistoric sacrifice to the strife of Northern Ireland, exploring themes of sacrifice and hope in death.
Heaney's 'The Tollund Man' demonstrates the poet's unparalleled ability to use history, even other nations' histories, to comment upon his contemporary experience of living on the island of Ireland. The titular Tollund Man is used to symbolically explore The Troubles which blighted Northern Ireland for much of Heaney's adult life. The poet appears to suggest that mankind will always find ways to inflict suffering onto others, regardless of the circumstances.
I could risk blasphemy,
Consecrate the cauldron bog
Our holy ground and pray
Him to make germinate
‘Digging’ contrasts the speaker’s daydreaming with his ancestors’ hard work, pondering his own path while trying to write.
Taken from Heaney's debut collection, 'Death of a Naturalist', 'Digging' is among his finest ever poems. The poem explores different forms of labour and examines how traditions remain resolutely the same even as the world changes around us. It is also firmly rooted in the Northern Irish landscape of Heaney's youth, that he would go on to render so iconically over the course of his poetic career.
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
In ‘Blackberry-Picking’ the speaker is recalling a recurring scene from his youth: each August, he would pick blackberries and relish in their sweet taste.
The poem appears to be about picking blackberries, but one has to look closer to see that the ripening and decaying blackberries are a picture of human life and death. When the berries are picked, they are at their best. But, if they aren’t picked, they sit in the sun and their “blood” cools off. To the speaker of this piece, the death of the berries does not seem fair.
Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
Seamus Heaney’s ‘Casualty’ describes the death of one of the speaker’s acquaintances during Bloody Sunday of 1972 in Northern Ireland.
In ‘Casualty’ Seamus Heaney depicts the life and death of a fisherman. He describes this man as someone who would “drink by himself” and call again and again for more run and “blackcurrant”. The man had a history in the town and was known by everyone. This appeals to the speaker and makes him wish he’d gotten a chance to know him. Unfortunately for the fisherman, his habits cost him his life.
He would drink by himself
And raise a weathered thumb
Towards the high shelf,
Calling another rum
‘Death of a Naturalist’ shows a child’s fascination of the countryside, followed by a sharp shock when he senses the dark side of nature.
The title poem from Heaney's debut collection, 'Death of a Naturalist' is one of the most effective depictions of lost innocence ever produced. The poet initially uses of nature as a source of wonder for the child, who yearns to discover more about the frogspawn as it develops. However, as time passes and the child grows older, they become increasingly disturbed by the processes of the natural world. The poem shows Heaney at his very best.
All year the flax-dam festered in the heart
Of the townland; green and heavy headed
Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.
Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.
Heaney reflects on violence in Ireland through the lens of Spain’s Civil War, contrasting his Madrid experiences with his homeland’s strife.
This piece is another that reflects on the violence in Ireland. This time though, Heaney looks at his country from a distance. He speaks directly about Spain and the Spanish Civil War which was taking place there. The poem focuses on what Heaney did in Madrid and the guilt he felt about his separation from his people. He only suffered the sun in Madrid, while others back home were fighting in the street.
While the Constabulary covered the mob
Firing into the Falls, I was suffering
Only the bullying sun of Madrid.
Each afternoon, in the casserole heat
‘The Barn’ delves into a nightmarish setting, where tools resemble an armory and looming creatures stir fear, ending with menacing corn sacks.
This poem is a retelling of experiences within a dark and cold barn, filled with foreboding tools and creatures. Most of these tools are gathered in the back like an armory. The creatures include birds, bats, and rats. As the speaker recounts his experiences in the barn, he recalls how scared he was of the animals and how he was forced to cower from them.
Threshed corn lay piled like grit of ivory
Or solid as cement in two-lugged sacks.
The musky dark hoarded an armoury
Of farmyard implements, harness, plough-socks.
‘Follower’ has many of the aspects which characterize the poems of Seamus Heaney. Having grown up in an area of Northern Ireland that greatly valued family, hard work, and farming, Heaney’s poems often reflect all of these values at once.
The poem effortlessly captures Heaney's childhood admiration for his father and the poignant role reversal as they age. His skillful use of imagery, structure, and personal reflection makes it deeply relatable and evocative.
My father worked with a horse-plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung
Between the shafts and the furrow.
The horses strained at his clicking tongue.
‘Punishment’ is featured in “North” – a poetry collection published in 1975. “North” seeks for images and symbols to convey violence and political conflicts.
This poem shows Heaney at his best. He expertly connects old and new, using an ancient body to talk about modern problems. The poem's words flow smoothly, even without a strict rhyme scheme. Heaney bravely tackles tough topics like violence and guilt, showing he can handle tricky subjects with skill. 'Punishment' really captures what makes Heaney special as a writer, proving why he's seen as one of the greats.
I can feel the tug
of the halter at the nape
of her neck, the wind
on her naked front.
Explore more poems from Seamus Heaney
The poem explores seed cutters’ meticulous work, evolving from individual to collective, embodying “all of us”.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker directs his words to the painter, Brueghel. He speaks about seed cutters and the way they “kneel under the hedge in half circle”. The speaker also goes through the movements made by the cutters. How they use a sharp knife and take their time. By the end of the poem, the seed cutters become everyone. They are “all of us”.
They seem hundreds of years away. Brueghel,
You’ll know them if I can get them true.
They kneel under the hedge in a half-circle
Marking the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, Heaney’s piece pays tribute to the ‘Croppies’ and their fight against Britain.
This piece was written in tribute to the rebels who fought against Britain in 1798. The word “Croppies” comes from the style in which the fighters wore their hair. Throughout the text, Heaney chose to use a first-person narrator. It seems that this person also had a stake in the fight; Ireland was also his country. The “croppies” did everything they could to fight off the British, their desperation is made very clear.
The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley...
No kitchens on the run, no striking camp...
We moved quick and sudden in our own country.
Heaney’s ‘Personal Helicon’ draws inspiration from his rural carefree childhood and intimate connection with nature.
Taken from his most famous collection, Death of a Naturalist, this poem also contains many of the themes that would go on to define Heaney's career, including a fascination with rural Ireland, the passage of time and the loss of childhood innocence.
As a child, they could not keep me from wells
And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.
I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells
‘Hailstones’ by Seamus Heaney is a thoughtful poem about memory and how one’s history can be seen reflected in the natural world.
In this poem, Heaney's depiction of a hailstorm and its aftermath reflects his ability to find meaning in everyday experiences. The storm becomes a metaphor for life's unpredictable moments. It emphasizes Heaney's talent for grounding his work in relatable, tangible events while also alluding to deeper emotional states.
My cheek was hit and hit:
sudden hailstones
pelted and bounced on the road.
‘Broagh’ by Seamus Heaney focuses on a specific rural locale, its natural features, and the way human life blends into this natural landscape.
In this poem, Heaney explores a specific geographical setting to dig into his familiar themes. He captures the unique characteristics of the land and how they shape and are shaped by the people who inhabit it. Heaney’s interest in the symbiotic relationship between individuals and their environment is a clear theme of his work.
Riverbank, the long rigs
ending in broad docken
and a canopied pad
down to the ford