Nature in Twice Shy by Seamus Heaney

Nature in Twice Shy by Seamus Heaney

Using nature to express picturesque images, Heaney portrays the purity

of the unspoken terms of love in one of his love poems – “Twice Shy”.

The title of the poem “Twice Shy” seems to have been taken from the

age-old proverb, “once bitten, twice shy”, and we are, as a result,

led to expect that the characters in this poem have had a bitter

experience in the past, therefore they are treading carefully and

attempting to recoup.

There are five stanzas of 6 lines, most lines structured as single

sentences which draw out tension and nervousness. The rhyme scheme is

abcbdb – the rhythmic cadence emphasizes the speaker’s as well as the

characters’ feelings and emotions.

The theme of this poem is personal feelings – the conflict between

needs of the flesh and teaching of society codes of behavior. The idea

behind this poem is simple: a couple, (possibly adolescents), go out

for a walk on a spring evening. However, their good upbringing forces

them to move cautiously, to “preserve clas...