Seamus heaney poetry
Question: Much of the poetry of Seamus Heaney has as its focus the subject of the 'Irish Troubles', (the enmity between Ireland and England) but also explores the various aspects and problems of human experience. Discuss with close reference to at least two poems.Seamus Heaney was born in April 1939 and grew up the eldest member of a family of eleven. He was a country boy and as a result a vast majority of his poetry touches upon country life and it is not until his later works that Heaney focuses particularly on the 'Irish Troubles.' Heaney spent many years living in Belfast and later in the Irish Republic and it is here that he came to experience the 'Irish Troubles' firsthand and as a result it can be seen in his poetry his exploration of not only the 'Irish Troubles' but also the human experience. In his body of work "North," in particular the poems "Punishment" and "Funeral Rights," Heaney makes a connection with the past to highlight the 'troubles' of the present as well as the connection between mythology and logic. Heaney makes this connection between 'mythos' and 'logos' and the past and the present in order to highlight his personal thoughts and emotions in reference t
Therefore a symbol of Ireland as she like Ireland has been murdered at the hand of a group of oppressors and although in the case of the Winderby Girl her oppressors are not known the connection is made between her oppressors and the current oppressors of Ireland, namely the British. Heaney still after all the hopes that there will be a stop to the revenge, as put forth in "Funeral Rites" is unable to prevent the action of revenge against the Irish girls as he is part of a cultural group that believes such a punishment is fair and just yet he is also able to understand the "tribal, intimate revenge" on a deeper level. ' As a result "Punishment" can be ready on a variety of levels. The beginning of the poem starts by empathizing with the Winderby Girl as the first lines state "I can feel the tug / Of the halter at the nape" which makes the body seem present and real. ' The start of the third section provides a type of movement through the megalithic doorway and as a result of such an action the "cud of memory" is "allayed for once" which implies that the feelings of hatred and revenge have been calmed and quieted. Also like Ireland, although she has been oppressed, she has been able to preserve her culture and as such this highlights how Ireland has been able to do the same and therefore links the past to the present. The strong Irish culture and heritage has been preserved like the Winderby Girl and as such the poet is suggesting as was done in "Funeral Rites" that the present people of Ireland look towards the past for a way to change the future for the better. Both of the poems draw a upon a link to the past and present through the use of mythological figures such as Gunnar and also the Winderby Girl and as a result they are able to explore the logical present and as such delve into the various aspects and problems of the human experience as well as the 'Irish troubles'. Within the poem "Punishment" the central character, the Winderby Girl, which is an ancient body found in Denmark dating back to the Iron Age, represents the past and as such in "Punishment" as well as "Funeral Rites" a connection can be made between the past and the present. Finally in this section a distinct mention is made towards the past in reference to the "megalithic doorway" which symbolizes a kind of stepping into the past, the mythological, where as is shown in the third section the answer can be found to halt the 'troubles. The Winderby Girl is juxtaposed with the Irish women of the 'troubles' and serves not only to make a connection with the past and present but also serves as a metaphor for Ireland itself. The first section deals with the death of what seems to be a member of Heaney's family under the parameters of the social norms and as a result Heaney must shoulder "a kind of manhood" which represents the responsibility placed upon Heaney and implies a journey moving away from childhood, a kind of loss of innocence. This section is reflective and is a moment of time that is somewhat of a snapshot of the "dead relations" and through the descriptive imagery it alludes to criticisms of religion claiming that the dead are "shackled" by their beliefs and the images of service, shown through the passage "the wrists / obediently sloped," accompany the images of imprisonment in critiquing the religious nature of Heaney's time. ' Furthermore the reference to Gunnar is an important one as in Norse mythology the fact that Gunnar's death was not avenged halted a long cycle of feuding and vengeance and so by using Gunnar as a symbol within the poem it is implying that like Gunnar who is unavenged the people of Ireland need to put a stop to the cyclic nature of death and retribution if they are ever to hope of resolving the 'troubles.
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