Seamus Heaney's Background and Poetry

Seamus Heaney's Background and Poetry

Seamus Heaney had a Roman Catholic upbringing in a rural area of

Northern Ireland. How does his poetry reflect his background?

Heaney's poetry is able to reflect his background by his use of

language and the technique he expresses his experiences. I will cover

his background into three sections: his childhood, the community and

his reflections.

I will start by looking at his feelings and experiences in the poem

'Death of a Naturalist'. The poet remembers the time when he was a

young child. He saw the reality of what frogs were really like in the

outdoors compared to what was taught in school. In school, the frogs

are described like a typical teacher talking to young pupils. It is

very patronising and cosy hiding the fact that they are 'rank',

off-putting and sickening in certain ways. For e.g. "the dam

gross-bellied frogs were cocked" and " Poised like mud grenades, their

blunt heads farting". They are described as being like grenades due to

their size, shape, colour and the "scary" croaking noises that the

creature makes. It was a new experience for him for he had not heard

the noises before," to a coarse croaking that I had not heard before".

He did not feel in the right situation and it was like he had never

felt like that before. During his experience, he felt insecure,

anxious and self-doubting. He puts himself down for he blames himself

for the "obscene threats" the frogs were giving him.

His use of language is able to quickly adjust the mood from a pleasant

school setting to a horrid, smelly and repellent atmosphere. Heaney

understood the straightforward and simplistic teachings at school but

is bewildered and scared when he approaches the frogs. The po...

... middle of paper ...

... fascinated by her he knows he shouldn't be because

she has done wrong. Even though he feels so deeply of this girl he

realises how foolish he was by letting them carry on with the

punishment; "I who stood dumb".

In some cases Heaney is able to use oxymoron in order to describe how

society can be a catastrophe at times. He uses the descriptive words

"civilized outrage" to show this. He puts two opposite words together

to form a different meaning. Hence the word "civilize" and "outrage".

Heaney has experienced many tragedies in his life from "Mid Term

Break" to "Punishment". He clarifies this using his own expertise of

writing to create descriptive poems like these. What must be said

about him is how he is talented enough to deliver what is suppose to

be delivered, very effectively in order for a reader like me to have

such an impact on what is said.