The Forge (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Seamus Heaney
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Children, Labor, Ireland or Irish people, Blacksmithing or blacksmiths, Iron or iron ores
The Poem
From a strictly formal point of view, “The Forge” is a sonnet. As is typical of Seamus Heaney’s work, however, and reflective of this poem’s unobtrusive depths, it is more interesting for the ways in which it departs from conventional sonnet forms than for its attachment to them. Thus, “The Forge” opens with a representative sonnet rhyme scheme. Once this is established, however, it is not adhered to. Similarly, the familiar internal organization of a sonnet into octet (the first eight lines) and sestet (the concluding six lines) seems promised but is not...
[The entire page is 1454 words long]
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