Seamus Heaney's Portrayal of Pain and Suffering

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Seamus Heaney's Portrayal of Pain and Suffering

Heaney, born 1939 was one of the nine children of Margaret and Patrick

Heaney who ran a family farm in Mossbawn, Northern Ireland. Heaney

enrolled at Queen's College in 1957 after attending his local town

school and opting not to follow in his fathers success of being a

farmer. He took up a position as a lecturer at St. Joseph's College,

Belfast 1963! He then went on to acheive a scholarship in English

Language and Literature, also devoting spare time to a poetry group.

His success in impressing fellow poets, subsequently lead to his

poetry being sent to England for publishing in 1964. The following

year, Heaney became married to Marie Delvin, who gave him his first

son Michael. Later, in 1965, 'Faber and Faber' published "Death of a

Naturalist" which earned Heaney such awards as the E.C Gregory Award

and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize!

Mid-Term Break

" I sat all morning in the college sick bay". My first impressions of

this poem was that it was somehow related to a school atmosphere. In

seven brief stanzas, Heaney write about his younger brother's death,

and how he was taken from school to go to a mourning service.

" A four foot box, a foot for every year", indicates that the diceased

was only an infant! This was the last line in the poem and an obvious

clue to whom Heaney was referring. I think Heaney at the time was

confused about the situation and he talks of how people like "Big Jim

Evans" commented on the incident in which his brother was killed. "It

was a hard blow" is a reassuring fact, implied in effect that the

brother could not have helped himself any better than ...

... middle of paper ...

...Limbo.

As in all three of my focused poems, there has been a sad mood. I

thought they were related in topic quite well, as all of them

described the ending of life.

'Mid-Term Break' is all about the end of a child's life, 'Early

Purges' sees the end of life for small creatures, and 'Limbo' I find

special. I see 'Limbo' as the end of life for both a child and a

creature. When the child was born in 'Limbo', it could have seen a

chance in life, but as it was unbaptised and put to death without

choice, the child became worthless, even more so than the fish it was

amongst.

Heaney can create an amazing effect on his reader by describing each

experience of his life with such impression! The poetry he produces is

of a unique quality and he goes into great depth with his words,

encouraging an impact on his reader.

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