What Is The Tone Of The Poem Casualty

“Casualty” Analysis Essay

In the poem “Casualty” the speaker is mourning a death of a close friend and is struggling

with this loss. This loss creates a personal tension within the speaker. Before and after the man is

“blown to bits” (Heaney 38) the speaker talks about their relationship. The reader can tell that the

speaker and the man were close, “I loved his whole manner, Sure-footed but too sly, His deadpan

sidling tact, His fisherman's quick eye And turned observant back” (Heaney 17-21). These lines

suggest that they spent quite a bit of time together because the speaker is detailed in his

description of what he loved about the man and his demeanor. The tone of these lines poses the

idea that the speaker admires and finds comfort in their friendship. This

His friend left his neighborhood

during curfew to go to a pub that should have been safe, but because of the events a few days

earlier it became a target of violence. The happy go lucky drunk didn't care about the curfew, he

just wanted a drink as we can infer from, “For he drank like a fish Nightly, naturally Swimming

towards the lure Of warm lit-up places,” ( Heaney 68-71). Another example of a personal tension

is when the speaker is taken on his friend's boat, “I was taken in his boat, The screw purling,

turning Indolent fathoms white, I tasted freedom with him.” (Heaney 96-99). This tells the reader

that the boat is the fisherman's happy place, and by being out in the sea the speaker can feel his

presence and longing for his friend. The speaker is conflicted because he feels the freedom of the sea and the release of the life of his friend to the pressures of the world. This personal turmoil

within the speaker helps us understand who the man is and why he went out that night but also

the speaker's grief.

There is a public tension to the events leading up to the death of the fisherman. When