Seeing Things (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Seamus Heaney
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Poetry or poets, Sea or seafaring life, Jesus Christ, Athletes, Life, philosophy of, Beaches or seashores, Sports, Ireland or Irish people, Fishing or fishermen, Time, Boats or boating, Soccer, Kites
The Poem
“Seeing Things” contains two sections. In the first, as the poem begins, the speaker is being helped into a small boat that will carry him and other passengers from Inishbofin, a small island off the coast of northwestern Ireland, to the mainland. He mentions what he sees, smells, and hears as they are helped into the shifting boat that is sitting low in the water. They sit together in “nervous twos and threes,” obeying the boatmen’s commands. Although the sea is calm, the speaker suddenly becomes anxious because of the motion of the boat as the diesel engine...
[The entire page is 1286 words long]
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