Poem Follower Seamus Heaney Analysis

For example, in the poem Follower,

Heaney says, “I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake, Fell sometimes on the polished sod;”

This line gives the audience the picture of Heaney literally stumbling around when

trying to be like his father. He continues to emphasize this by adding how he constantly

falls on the ground when following his father as well. This example of imagery gives the

audience the idea that Heaney constantly tries to be like his father, even though he is

struggling. This not only shows his hardships of attempting to be like his father, but

shows the motivation of doing so. He admires his father so much that he would

In the poem Harvest Bow, Heaney uses imagery when saying, “And if I spy into

its golden loops, I see us walk between the railroad slopes.”

This example of imagery

presents an image of Heaney actually looking into the loops of the harvest bow, and

actually seeing him and his father walking down a railroad. It also gives an idea where

someone would look into binoculars, and being able to see things that cannot be seen

from a far.

Heaney uses this imagery in order to emphasize how much he adores his

father. He admires the times he had with his father, and seeing both of them walk in an

area like old times shows that he admires his father so much, that memories like this

have a great value for him. When memories are mentioned, especially a memory so

Although imagery is a huge factor in Heaney’s poetry, he also uses symbolism.

Symbolism is a symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects or facts. Between the

poems Follower and Harvest Bow, Heaney uses symbolism in order to show his

admiration for his father. For example, in Harvest Bow, Heaney uses the actual harvest

bow in order to symbolize what he and his father have been through. The harvest bow

not only represents their activity together, but also his father in general. Referring back

to the previous quote, “And if I spy into its golden loops, I see us walk between the

railroad slopes,” shows that the harvest bow actually has meaning. Looking into the

loops, he sees the activities that he did with his father. This continues to show the fact

that the harvest bow is important to him and is a symbol of Heaney’s memory of

his

father. Heaney later says, “That I have pinned up on our deal dresser.” By adding this he

includes the fact that he still has the harvest bow that his dad created. The fact that he

keeps this from his childhood shows that he does appreciate his father in many ways.

Despite his skills of actually creating the harvest bow, Heaney admires his father

because of all the emotions, memories, and simply the feeling he gets about his father

In Follower, Heaney uses his actual father as a symbol. He describes his father in

so many ways that make readers believe that his father is like a superman. In Follower,

he says, “His shoulders globed like a full sail strung.” Heaney adds this in a way to

describe his father’s looks, showing as if he’s strong when comparing to a full sail strung.

This also helps describe his father as a physically built or muscular man. The reason

why this is important is because he helps emphasize on his feelings towards his father.

Heaney’s heavy description of his father helps readers understand that he has a sort of

obsession over him. Every little thing his father does just excites him and interests him

in every way. Heaney adds, “All I did was follow In his broad shadow around the farm.”

This quote also shows how Heaney continues to add emphasis on his admiration for his

father. He continues to add the fact that he follows his father which shows a sign that he

wants to be like him. Every muscle, every action, if he could replicate his father he

would. Throughout the whole poem he uses the symbol of his father just to show this

and help the readers understand in every way.