Seamus Heaney Criticism
Seamus Heaney, a distinguished Northern Irish poet and Nobel laureate, is celebrated for his evocative depiction of both the Irish landscape and its complex cultural identity. Renowned as one of the foremost poets since W.B. Yeats, Heaney explores the poet's societal role while addressing political and cultural issues inherent in Irish history. His work is noted for its sensuous language, vivid nature imagery, and profound metaphors. Heaney's literary journey is marked by a profound engagement with the political tensions of Northern Ireland and themes of identity and self-discovery, elements present from his early collections like Death of a Naturalist and Door into the Dark, which evoke rural life through a blend of personal and mythic elements.
Heaney's "bog poems" in collections such as North symbolically address Ireland's violent history. These works juxtapose ancient myths with contemporary violence, a theme further explored by critics like Bruce Bidwell and Robert Pinsky. His shift towards more abstract themes of spirituality and existential reflection is evident in later works like Seeing Things and The Spirit Level, with Carol Moldaw and Sudeep Sen noting these transitions.
Heaney's contributions extend beyond poetry to translation, with his acclaimed rendition of Beowulf illustrating his ability to bridge past and present, as discussed by William Pratt and Colin Campbell. His thematic exploration is rooted in Irish history and myth, notably in Sweeney Astray and "Station Island," which draw on medieval tales to convey artistic and societal contemplations. Critics like John Bayley have acknowledged the soundness of his poetic critique.
Amidst critical acclaim for his innovative form and style, Heaney merges Irish and English traditions, as highlighted by Sidney Burris. His work spans from addressing harsh political realities to introspective narratives, providing both personal and national explorations of identity, as noted by Alan Shapiro. Through his masterful use of language and deep cultural engagement, Heaney remains a pivotal figure in contemporary literature, praised for the depth and breadth of his work, as recognized by Denis Donoghue. His poetry reflects both individual and collective Irish experiences with profound insight, ensuring his status as a towering figure in contemporary Irish poetry.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Heaney, Seamus (Vol. 171)
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A Poetic Conscience
(summary)
In the following review, Moldaw contrasts the subject matter of Heaney's earlier works with that of Seeing Things and Selected Poems, noting a shift from materiality to abstraction.
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Tracing Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following essay, Quinlan examines Heaney's background as a Catholic native of Northern Ireland, outlining how changes in his life and philosophies affected his poetry.
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The Parish and the Dream: Heaney and America, 1969-1987
(summary)
In the following essay, Allen traces the effect of American literature and culture on Heaney's poetry.
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Seamus Heaney's ‘Middle Voice.’
(summary)
In the following essay, Tillinghast assesses the political and artistic implications of the poems in Station Island and North.
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The Great Irish Elk: Seamus Heaney's Personal Helicon
(summary)
In the following essay, Pratt provides an overview of Heaney's life and career through his 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.
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Catching the Heart Off Guard: The Generous Vision of Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following essay, Keen applauds the tone and style of Heaney's poetics, highlighting its links to the oral traditions of poetry.
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The Redress of Poetry
(summary)
In the following review, Pratt criticizes Heaney's overemphasis on politics in The Redress of Poetry.
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Review of The Spirit Level
(summary)
In the following review, Sen assesses the humanist impulses that inform The Spirit Level.
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Powers of Earth and Visions of Air
(summary)
In the following essay, Deane connects the political aspects of Heaney's poetry with definitions of Ireland as both cultural and geographic entities.
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The State of Poetry
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Shetley enthuses about Heaney's “sensitive” perspective on contemporary poetics in The Redress of Poetry.
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Poetry Roundup
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Hosmer assesses the style and theme of The Spirit Level, noting that most of Heaney's poetry is eminently accessible and that his latest collection, The Spirit Level, draws readers in effortlessly with clear language and polished structure.
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Seeing and Believing
(summary)
In the following review, Greenlaw praises the poetry of Opened Ground, summarizing Heaney's achievements from Death of a Naturalist to the present.
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Opened Ground
(summary)
In the following review, Pratt highlights the influence of Ireland and Irish culture in the poems of Opened Ground.
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Measures of a Poet
(summary)
In the following review, Desmond outlines Heaney's career through the poems in Opened Ground.
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Beowulf for the Big-Voiced Scullions
(summary)
In the following review, Shippey objects to Heaney's use of Irish words derived from Anglo-Saxon, but unfamiliar to most English speakers, in his translation of Beowulf.
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Scullionspeak
(summary)
In the following review, Howe singles out the humanity and energy of the narrative speeches in Heaney's translation of Beowulf, but concedes that Heaney's use of Ulster idiom is inappropriate since he does not fully re-invent the tale in terms of Anglo-Irish relations.
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This Old Dragon Still Breathes Fire
(summary)
In the following review, Campbell praises Heaney for making Beowulf accessible to twenty-first-century students, using his verses as a bridge between the original text and modern English.
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Following Seamus Heaney's ‘Follower’: Toward a Performative Criticism
(summary)
In the following essay, Boly applies speech act theory to construct multiple modes of meaning and layers of reality for the main persona in Heaney's poem “Follower.”
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Seamus Heaney's Beowulf
(summary)
In the following review, Murphy evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Heaney's translation of Beowulf.
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Review of Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following review, Pratt champions Heaney's fresh approach to the language of Beowulf.
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‘Customary Rhythms’: Seamus Heaney and the Rite of Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Bolton analyzes the means and ends of Heaney's poetics, as exemplified by the structure and thematic concerns of what Bolton identifies as Heaney's “station poems.”
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A Scratchy Woollen Jumper That Doesn't Quite Fit
(summary)
In the following review, Newey offers a negative assessment of Electric Light, noting that “the compressed textures of the language tak[es] primacy over just about everything else.”
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The Mother Tongue
(summary)
In the following review, Mariani celebrates the influence of both famous and non-famous authors on the poems in Electric Light.
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Like Peat-Smoke Mulling
(summary)
In the following review, Mangan praises Heaney's impeccable pairing of words to things and his ability to elevate poetry to the level of myth or religion in Electric Light.
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Review of Electric Light
(summary)
In the following review, Oser offers a positive assessment of Electric Light, discussing how Heaney's work engages with modernism and the challenges of establishing a voice in contemporary culture.
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Review of Electric Light
(summary)
In the following review, Taylor appreciates Heaney's examination of the past in Electric Light, but laments the poet's apparent emotional distance from his subjects. Although Seamus Heaney includes fine lines celebrating landscape in Electric Light, this is not his most impressive collection. Several bookish poems enfeeble the overall impact of a volume comprising, even more than descriptive nature poetry, some engaging, thought-provoking reminiscence. This irregularity is a pity. The Irish poet's particular way of looking back merits attention. One wishes that he had produced a more unified collection devoted to recovering vanished events from his past.
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A Force for Good
(summary)
In the following review, Glover offers a positive assessment of Finders Keepers: Selected Prose, noting that Heaney's poetry and criticism “has helped to keep the craft of poetry on the right, tight track.”
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A Poetic Conscience
(summary)
- Heaney, Seamus (Vol. 5)
- Heaney, Seamus (Vol. 7)
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Heaney, Seamus (Vol. 91)
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Overviews
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Deeper than Declared: On Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following excerpt, she analyzes the imagery and syntax of Heaney's poetry, focusing on the epic poem, "Station Island."
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An introduction to Seamus Heaney: Poet of Contrary Progressions
(summary)
In the following essay, his introduction to Seamus Heaney, he examines Heaney's development as a poet, focusing on his position in—and his reactions to—Ireland's literary and political history.
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Deeper than Declared: On Seamus Heaney
(summary)
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Award Announcements
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Irish Poet Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
(summary)
In the following article, Grimes summarizes Heaney's life and career.
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Laureate and Symbol, Heaney Returns Home
(summary)
In the following article, Clarity reports Heaney's reactions to winning the Nobel Prize.
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Irish Poet Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
(summary)
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Interviews
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Seamus Heaney: Vindication of the Word 'Poet'
(summary)
In the following essay, which is based on an interview with Heaney, Bing discusses the poet's early work and the ideas that led to his book, The Redress of Poetry.
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Interviews
(summary)
In the following interview, Heaney discusses his philosophy of language, the personal and cultural influences on his poetry, including the role of his father and his Irish heritage, and his views on the power and purpose of poetry, which he believes is to renew language and values for both private and public realms.
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Seamus Heaney: Vindication of the Word 'Poet'
(summary)
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Review Of Heaney's Most Recent Work
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Professing Poetry
(summary)
In the following review of The Redress of Poetry, Bayley maintains that though Heaney's criticism is sound and fair, it offers no new startling insights.
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Professing Poetry
(summary)
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Overviews
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Heaney, Seamus (Vol. 14)
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Seamus Heaney's Third Book of Poems
(summary)
In the following essay, Patricia Beer evaluates Seamus Heaney's Wintering Out, highlighting his continued focus on the Irish rural landscape, the meticulous crafting of well-ordered poems, and his obsession with sound and pronunciation, which collectively culminate in an impressive and vivid poetic collection.
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More Poetry Matters
(summary)
In the following essay, William H. Pritchard discusses Seamus Heaney's poetry in North, highlighting Heaney's distinctive approach to writing about The Troubles in Northern Ireland with dignity and humor, and expressing appreciation for the "talkiness" and social sophistication in Heaney's later works.
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World Literature in Review: 'North'
(summary)
In the following essay, Kenneth McRobbie argues that Seamus Heaney's collection North explores Ireland's historical conflicts through a poetic coherence of action, emphasizing imaginative retrieval and expression of place, objects, and people, and advocating a modern lyric that eschews reflexive indulgence for a richly sensual and temporal vocabulary.
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The Nation of Poets
(summary)
In the following essay, Donald Hall critiques Seamus Heaney's "North" as his most accomplished work, emphasizing the blend of political context and historical depth in Heaney's poetry, particularly focusing on his engagement with Ireland's past through the metaphor of the "bog people" and the poet's journey.
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'Hoarder of Common Ground': Tradition and Ritual in Seamus Heaney's Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Arthur E. McGuinness examines Seamus Heaney's poetry, arguing that Heaney's work, particularly in his volumes "North" and "Wintering Out," emphasizes the importance of cultural connection and ritual as a means to understand personal and societal identity, despite modern disconnection and cultural loss.
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Landscape with Poems
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter Porter explores the magical qualities in Seamus Heaney's poetry, particularly in Field Work, highlighting his balance of plainness and ambiguity, and calls for Heaney to embrace themes that require greater risk and present his mastery of style without relying on past influences.
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The Music of What Happens
(summary)
In the following essay, Donald Hall contends that Seamus Heaney's Field Work surpasses his previous volume North, highlighting Heaney's unique poetic voice, which engages with themes of Irish identity, love, violence, and memory through a deliberate and musical narrative style.
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Poets Who Have Learned Their Trades: 'Field Work'
(summary)
In the following essay, Denis Donoghue praises Seamus Heaney's "Field Work" for its eloquence and craft, highlighting how Heaney's poetic evolution and deep engagement with Irish history and personal experience create a powerful, meditative, and natural connection between language and the world.
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Seamus Heaney's Third Book of Poems
(summary)
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Heaney, Seamus (Justin)
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Four New Voices: Poets of the Present
(summary)
In the following essay, Terence Brown argues that Seamus Heaney's poetry transcends mere observation of the natural world, instead intertwining themes of eroticism, religion, and Irish history, but critiques Heaney's tendency towards poetic passivity and indecision, which may limit the emotional and dramatic impact of his work.
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Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Buttel analyzes Seamus Heaney's Death of a Naturalist, highlighting its sensuous energy, immediate imagery, and flexible human voice while acknowledging the collection's uneven quality and the potential risks of Heaney's style, ultimately affirming Heaney's emerging voice and evolving diction.
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The Recognition of the Savage God: Poetry in Britain Today
(summary)
In the following essay, Anne Stevenson argues that Seamus Heaney's poetry is uniquely profound and accessible, combining topical relevance, private insight, and classical elegance, while addressing the turmoil of Northern Ireland with clarity and beauty.
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The Music of What Happens
(summary)
In the following essay, Calvin Bedient critiques Seamus Heaney for his modest ambition and tone despite his renowned reputation, arguing that Heaney's strength lies in his evocative language and rural themes, though he ultimately lacks a profound or unified poetic vision and often avoids universal themes in favor of personal or immediate experiences.
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Seamus Heaney's: 'Salvation in Surrender'
(summary)
In the following essay, Gregory A. Schirmer explores how Seamus Heaney's poetry bridges the local and universal by delving into his Irish cultural heritage, notably through his symbolic use of bogs, allowing him to resonate with non-Irish audiences while addressing fundamental human experiences.
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Seamus Heaney: The Ground Possessed
(summary)
In the following essay, Jay Parini argues that Seamus Heaney's work, especially in collections like North, embodies a unique blend of personal and political poetry that reinterprets Irish history through rich metaphorical frameworks, utilizing themes of possession and repossession while maintaining a balance between personal memories and broader cultural narratives.
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The Voice of Kinship
(summary)
In the following essay, Harold Bloom argues that Seamus Heaney's poetic evolution, particularly in "Field Work," reflects a profound engagement with Irish identity and language, comparable to Yeats, while highlighting "The Harvest Bow" as a standout piece that exemplifies Heaney's mastery of a distinct and universal lyrical voice.
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A Fine Way with the Language
(summary)
In the following essay, Alvarez critiques Seamus Heaney's poetic style as a blend of rich language and restrained rhetoric, noting his capacity to connect Irish themes with broader literary traditions, while contending that Heaney's celebrated status may exaggerate the scope and impact of his work within the modern poetry landscape.
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Seamus Heaney: Poetry and Power
(summary)
In the following essay, Shaun O'Connell analyzes how Seamus Heaney's poetry navigates the complex interplay between personal expression and political realities in Ireland, arguing that Heaney's work gains its power from this tension, creating poetry that is simultaneously intimate and universally significant, while cautioning against oversimplifying Heaney's role as a symbol of national unity.
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The Hiding Places of Power
(summary)
In the following essay, Anthony Thwaite discusses Seamus Heaney's prose work in Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968–1978, highlighting Heaney's balanced and insightful examination of both his own Irish influences and the broader English poetic tradition, showcasing his unique ability to blend technical craft with a profound understanding of language and rhythm.
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A Poet's Prose
(summary)
In the following essay, David Wright praises Seamus Heaney's poetry for its polished and lasting quality, particularly highlighting his pure lyrical works, while also commending his prose in establishing Heaney as a serious critic on par with literary figures like Yeats and Eliot, emphasizing themes such as the importance of the speaking voice and sense of place.
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The Prose of an Irish Poet
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Pinsky examines Seamus Heaney's prose collection "Preoccupations," highlighting Heaney's insightful exploration of composition and personal and national history, while also critiquing occasional literary mannerisms and praising his authoritative engagement with poets like Wordsworth, Hopkins, and Yeats.
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Seamus Heaney: Peat, Politics and Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Marjorie Perloff critiques Seamus Heaney's essays and poetry for their lack of distinct perspective, arguing that Heaney's celebrated works often fall into "deliberate myth-making" and fail to engage directly with his subjects, suggesting his reluctance to trust his own emotional and intellectual responses.
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Matters of Ireland: Recent Irish Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Rodney Rybus evaluates Seamus Heaney's work, highlighting his evocative portrayal of rural Ireland and childhood, while acknowledging Heaney's significant contribution to forging a new voice for Irish poetry, influenced by a "Yeatsian intensity" yet distinct in its direct engagement with contemporary Ulster's issues.
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Digs
(summary)
In the following essay, W. S. Di Piero critiques Seamus Heaney's poetic technique, asserting that while he skillfully explores historical and linguistic themes, his use of metaphor can occasionally overshadow thematic integrity, necessitating a greater balance between craft and vision, particularly in works such as "North."
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Four New Voices: Poets of the Present
(summary)
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Heaney, Seamus
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Description as Poetry
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Galler explores the expository nature of Heaney's poems in Death of a Naturalist.
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A Soft Grip on the Sick Place: The Bogland Poetry of Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following essay, Bidwell draws a connection between Heaney's metaphor of the bog and Irish republicanism.
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Beginnings
(summary)
In the following excerpt from the full-length study of Heaney's work, Buttel examines the seminal influences on Heaney's early poetry.
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Poetry and Terror
(summary)
In the following laudatory review of North, Murphy discusses the defining characteristics of Heaney's poetry.
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Field Work
(summary)
In the following essay, Pinsky provides a favorable review of Field Work. The poems of Seamus Heaney give several kinds of pleasure: first of all, he is a talented writer, with a sense of language and rhythm as clean, sweet, and solid as newworked hardwood. Beyond that, his previous book, North, showed inspiringly that his talent had the limberness and pluck needed to take up some of the burden of history—the tangled, pained history of Ireland. Heaney's success in dealing with the murderous racial enmities of past and present, avoiding all the sins of oratory, and keeping his personal sense of balance, seems to me one of the most exhilarating poetic accomplishments in many years.
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The Matter of Ireland and the Poetry of Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following essay, Zoutenbier examines Seamus Heaney's thematic and stylistic evolution, arguing that his poetry develops from personal and cultural displacement towards a search for identity through language, encompassing a broader historical and mythological context, while maintaining a deep connection to the Irish landscape.
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Crossed Pieties
(summary)
In the following review of Heaney's two volumes of collected poetry and prose, Shapiro relates the stylistic and thematic development of Heaney's poetry to his assertion of personal and national identity.
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A review of Station Island
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Vendler examines the major themes of Heaney's Station Island. The book reflects the disquiet of an uprooted life—one of successive dislocations. Heaney's life began in Castledawson, in Northern Ireland; he was educated at St. Columb's College, in Derry, and then at Queen's University, Belfast. The title poem reviews, in a series of memorial encounters, the 'stations' of Heaney's life—especially that of his adolescence, hitherto scanted in his work. The poet moves amid a cloud of ghosts, familial, sexual, and professional, as he participates in the obligatory three-day ritual at Station Island.
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An interview with Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following interview, Seamus Heaney and June Beisch discuss Heaney's writing habits, his ambivalence about cultural and artistic identity, and his work, particularly Sweeney Astray, highlighting his views on poetry's relation to personal experience, cultural displacement, and contemporary literary trends.
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Seamus Heaney's Poetry of Meditation: Door into the Dark
(summary)
In the following prize-winning essay, Hart analyzes the opposing, yet interwoven themes of Heaney's poetry, maintaining that the poet finds precedents in a tradition of Catholic meditation but gives to the old forms a new complexity and an attractive, personal finish.
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Second Thoughts
(summary)
In the following favorable review, Vendler explores the defining characteristics of the poems compiled in The Haw Lantern, asserting that the volume is an expression of the natural loss of middle-age.
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An interview with Seamus Heaney
(summary)
In the following interview, Heaney discusses the evolving themes in his poetry, particularly in The Haw Lantern, reflecting on influences from American and Eastern European poets, and the dualities of poetic creation and personal identity in the context of his Irish heritage.
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Seamus Heaney's Anxiety of Trust in Field Work
(summary)
In the following essay, Hart determines the influence of Robert Lowell on the poems of Field Work, and praises Heaney's willingness to take risks in this volume.
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Heaney and the Pastoral Persuasion
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Burris places Heaney's poetry within the context of pastoral tradition.
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A review of Seeing Things
(summary)
In the following essay, Pinsky provides a favorable review of Heaney's Seeing Things.
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Seeing Things in a Jungian Perspective: Archetypal Elements in Seamus Heaney's Recent Poetry
(summary)
In the following essay, Atfield offers a Jungian interpretation of the poetry found in the volume Seeing Things. Seamus Heaney uses the Jungian concept of mythical archetypes to explore himself, his family and his race; to understand the origins of his own creative energies and the distortion of creativity in the destructiveness of his society.
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Description as Poetry
(summary)
- Further Reading