Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Rebecca Holman
Major Poet Essay
Advanced Composition
24 January 2008
Biography
His full name is Seamus Justin Heaney, and he was born April 13, 1939. He began his teaching career at St. Joseph's College in Belfast and then took up take writing up after he met Derek Mahon and Michael Longly, under the guidance of Philip Hobsbaum.
According to experts, Heaney is " inspired by artists who created poetry from local and native backgrounds such as: Ted Hughes, Patrick Kavanagh, and Robert Frost." (“Heaney” Gale par. 3). In 1965 he married Marie Devlin, and in 1966 he published his first book of poetry; Death of a Naturalist. He went on to publish many other works, but an important one that catches the people's eye is his new translation of Beowulf, which "beat Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by one vote in the 1999 Whitbread Book of the Year Award (“Heaney” Gale par.5). Consequently in March of 2000, Beowulf was a number one top seller in England.
Seamus Heaney’s central preoccupation is with words and how they tie together, in this quote by who, the author discusses how, "meaning and sound are [an] intimately related result in concentrated, sensually evocative poems which explores nature, love, and relationships between contemporary issues or historical patterns like legends and myths. Heaney uses assonant phrasing, richly descriptive adjectives, with witty metaphors to set off each of his unique poems” (“Heaney” Gale p 1-2).
He was a Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1989 to 1994 and spends part of each year teaching at Harvard as the professor of Rhetoric and Oratory.
Review of Critical Essay
Meeting the Myth: Station Island
By: Barbara Hardy
In the article “Meeting the Myth: Station Island” by Barbara Hardy, each one stanza starts with three sections in the essay by explaining each poem: number one, self contained lyrics within the poem; number two, model derived from St. Patrick’s Purgatory; and number three, uses of medieval Sweeney from his other works. Hardy claims that “the most personal poems are often the most mythical” (1). This explains Heaney’s writing of art, love, and war in his poems.
She goes on to speak of the series of poems and his ironic religious sense, childhood, teenage years, and politics in his ending poem. The most complex part of the whole poem is how he writes a simple outline for the smaller poems instead of narrating the story like a story teller, thus creating a mythical dream for the readers.
Through the whole poem, nature is always in the backround of the stanzas, adding description and a sense of being at home throughout each scene. Sweaney adds a major contribution to the series of poems, acting as the character that Heaney always wanted to be in text.
Hardy also seems to enjoy writing out the meanings of the poems with no real criticism of Heaney’s work in Station Island.
Analysis of One Poem
The Fragement
Seamus Heaney’s title “The Fragment,” is a suitable name for the intriguing lines of poetry bound within. The title meaning a part of a story, one leaves not knowing how the story ends or when it begins, leaving the reader hanging.
He leaves a very interesting mark on the poetry by making the first letter of every sentence capitalized, which he seems to do in almost every poem. Breaking them up into three or four sentences and then spacing down at least two lines in order to start again, which in this poem he does not follow consistently. For example, Heaney writes:
“Light came from the east,” he sang,
“Bright guarantee of God, and the waves went quiet.
I could see headlands and buffeted cliffs.
Often, for marked courage, fate spares the man
It has not marked already.”(1-5)
He speaks about the sailors being lucky where the sea is calm and that “the waves went quiet” (2), thus the weather is good for sailing. The speaker of the poem sees everything and is happy with what the weather foretells. Then he speaks about fate and how they are all “marked” while at sea. He explains that, “Fate spares the man/It has not marked already” (5-6). Heaney then makes a drastic turn in the next set by saying, “that he had gone to bits/his first and last lines/Neither here nor there” (6-7).
He talks like a man who had died with out a beginning or an end and then adds, “Since when?” He askes, “Are the first line and last line of any poem/ Where the poem begins and ends” (10-12)?
Heaney does not seem to use poetic techniques in this particular poem, except for repetition. Though it remains mysterious, he concentrates on the idea that in a fragmented reality, there is no real beginning or end for anyone or anything. In the last two lines Heaney writes, “Are the first line and last line of any poem/where the poem begins and ends?”(13-14). this is a question that no one can fathom, yet inspires one to still ponder.
Overview of three Poems
Bodies and Souls
“In the Afterlife” is the most exciting part of the series of poems that Heaney writes. He begins with the lines, “It will be like following Jim Logue, the caretaker,/ As he goes to sweet our hair off that classroom floor/Where the school barber set up once a fortnight” (1-3).
A caretaker starts his rounds like a janitor in a school, cleaning up after the long day of study amongst students. Heaney then breaks into describing how the surroundings look like “silent landings,/Of the refectory with its solid, crest-marked delph,/The ground-floor corridor, the laundry pile”(5-7). Heaney finishes by setting up a most fantastic ending, “And boots tagged for the cobbler. Was that your name/On a label? Were you a body or a soul?”(8-9)
Wedding Day
In this poem, Heaney describes a scene of someone afraid of being married who is indecisive on the idea of being married. To the speaker, marriage at the moment does not sound good. The person then goes on to find a taxi and leaves as quickly as he can. He, then gets on an airplane, only to go back eventually to the one person whom he left behind.
Bogland
The bogs are an awful place to be, but the perfect place to bury a body. The description of the land of bogs and how they hold items and people in perfect embalming until they are dug up by an unsuspecting digger is fascinating. He then goes on to speak even though the bogs are good for preserving, they are also limitless or bottomless.
Evaluation of Poet
He is an extraordinary writer who can put twists and turns into any poem to make them sound exciting or confusing until you read it twice and understand. By understanding that each and every word that he uses counts. Heaney creates a masterpiece over in a short amount of time and lets the rest of the world decide for themselves.
Seamus Heaney and expressing himself through nature, love, myth, and politics that makes most of his work exciting to read. From old poetry that he had just started writing to the newer books of poetry he has written, he still stays unique and most-loved by many readers of poetry.
List of Links Used
Gale Cenage. “p. 1”
2008. 3 Febuary 2008
http://gale.cengage.com/
Hardy, Barbara. “Meeting the Myth: Station Island.”
Pennsylvania: Dufour, 1994.
Heaney, Seamus. “The Fragement.” “Bodies and Souls.” Electric Light
New York: Union Square West, 2001
Heaney, Seamus. “Wedding Day.” “Bog Land.” Opened Ground.
New York: Union Square West, 1998
Major Poet Essay
Advanced Composition
24 January 2008
Biography
His full name is Seamus Justin Heaney, and he was born April 13, 1939. He began his teaching career at St. Joseph's College in Belfast and then took up take writing up after he met Derek Mahon and Michael Longly, under the guidance of Philip Hobsbaum.
According to experts, Heaney is " inspired by artists who created poetry from local and native backgrounds such as: Ted Hughes, Patrick Kavanagh, and Robert Frost." (“Heaney” Gale par. 3). In 1965 he married Marie Devlin, and in 1966 he published his first book of poetry; Death of a Naturalist. He went on to publish many other works, but an important one that catches the people's eye is his new translation of Beowulf, which "beat Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by one vote in the 1999 Whitbread Book of the Year Award (“Heaney” Gale par.5). Consequently in March of 2000, Beowulf was a number one top seller in England.
Seamus Heaney’s central preoccupation is with words and how they tie together, in this quote by who, the author discusses how, "meaning and sound are [an] intimately related result in concentrated, sensually evocative poems which explores nature, love, and relationships between contemporary issues or historical patterns like legends and myths. Heaney uses assonant phrasing, richly descriptive adjectives, with witty metaphors to set off each of his unique poems” (“Heaney” Gale p 1-2).
He was a Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1989 to 1994 and spends part of each year teaching at Harvard as the professor of Rhetoric and Oratory.
Review of Critical Essay
Meeting the Myth: Station Island
By: Barbara Hardy
In the article “Meeting the Myth: Station Island” by Barbara Hardy, each one stanza starts with three sections in the essay by explaining each poem: number one, self contained lyrics within the poem; number two, model derived from St. Patrick’s Purgatory; and number three, uses of medieval Sweeney from his other works. Hardy claims that “the most personal poems are often the most mythical” (1). This explains Heaney’s writing of art, love, and war in his poems.
She goes on to speak of the series of poems and his ironic religious sense, childhood, teenage years, and politics in his ending poem. The most complex part of the whole poem is how he writes a simple outline for the smaller poems instead of narrating the story like a story teller, thus creating a mythical dream for the readers.
Through the whole poem, nature is always in the backround of the stanzas, adding description and a sense of being at home throughout each scene. Sweaney adds a major contribution to the series of poems, acting as the character that Heaney always wanted to be in text.
Hardy also seems to enjoy writing out the meanings of the poems with no real criticism of Heaney’s work in Station Island.
Analysis of One Poem
The Fragement
Seamus Heaney’s title “The Fragment,” is a suitable name for the intriguing lines of poetry bound within. The title meaning a part of a story, one leaves not knowing how the story ends or when it begins, leaving the reader hanging.
He leaves a very interesting mark on the poetry by making the first letter of every sentence capitalized, which he seems to do in almost every poem. Breaking them up into three or four sentences and then spacing down at least two lines in order to start again, which in this poem he does not follow consistently. For example, Heaney writes:
“Light came from the east,” he sang,
“Bright guarantee of God, and the waves went quiet.
I could see headlands and buffeted cliffs.
Often, for marked courage, fate spares the man
It has not marked already.”(1-5)
He speaks about the sailors being lucky where the sea is calm and that “the waves went quiet” (2), thus the weather is good for sailing. The speaker of the poem sees everything and is happy with what the weather foretells. Then he speaks about fate and how they are all “marked” while at sea. He explains that, “Fate spares the man/It has not marked already” (5-6). Heaney then makes a drastic turn in the next set by saying, “that he had gone to bits/his first and last lines/Neither here nor there” (6-7).
He talks like a man who had died with out a beginning or an end and then adds, “Since when?” He askes, “Are the first line and last line of any poem/ Where the poem begins and ends” (10-12)?
Heaney does not seem to use poetic techniques in this particular poem, except for repetition. Though it remains mysterious, he concentrates on the idea that in a fragmented reality, there is no real beginning or end for anyone or anything. In the last two lines Heaney writes, “Are the first line and last line of any poem/where the poem begins and ends?”(13-14). this is a question that no one can fathom, yet inspires one to still ponder.
Overview of three Poems
Bodies and Souls
“In the Afterlife” is the most exciting part of the series of poems that Heaney writes. He begins with the lines, “It will be like following Jim Logue, the caretaker,/ As he goes to sweet our hair off that classroom floor/Where the school barber set up once a fortnight” (1-3).
A caretaker starts his rounds like a janitor in a school, cleaning up after the long day of study amongst students. Heaney then breaks into describing how the surroundings look like “silent landings,/Of the refectory with its solid, crest-marked delph,/The ground-floor corridor, the laundry pile”(5-7). Heaney finishes by setting up a most fantastic ending, “And boots tagged for the cobbler. Was that your name/On a label? Were you a body or a soul?”(8-9)
Wedding Day
In this poem, Heaney describes a scene of someone afraid of being married who is indecisive on the idea of being married. To the speaker, marriage at the moment does not sound good. The person then goes on to find a taxi and leaves as quickly as he can. He, then gets on an airplane, only to go back eventually to the one person whom he left behind.
Bogland
The bogs are an awful place to be, but the perfect place to bury a body. The description of the land of bogs and how they hold items and people in perfect embalming until they are dug up by an unsuspecting digger is fascinating. He then goes on to speak even though the bogs are good for preserving, they are also limitless or bottomless.
Evaluation of Poet
He is an extraordinary writer who can put twists and turns into any poem to make them sound exciting or confusing until you read it twice and understand. By understanding that each and every word that he uses counts. Heaney creates a masterpiece over in a short amount of time and lets the rest of the world decide for themselves.
Seamus Heaney and expressing himself through nature, love, myth, and politics that makes most of his work exciting to read. From old poetry that he had just started writing to the newer books of poetry he has written, he still stays unique and most-loved by many readers of poetry.
List of Links Used
Gale Cenage. “p. 1”
2008. 3 Febuary 2008
http://gale.cengage.com/
Hardy, Barbara. “Meeting the Myth: Station Island.”
Pennsylvania: Dufour, 1994.
Heaney, Seamus. “The Fragement.” “Bodies and Souls.” Electric Light
New York: Union Square West, 2001
Heaney, Seamus. “Wedding Day.” “Bog Land.” Opened Ground.
New York: Union Square West, 1998
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
My Interpretation of Seamus Heaney's "Bog Queen"
"Bog Queen"
She awaits in her eternal sleep for now and forever beneath the peat and moss, waiting to be unearthed by the unsuspecting traveler or peat cutter. Creepy crawlers crawl all over her while other water animals make her body useful by putting their spawn around and in her. Animals and other things come and chew and eat her. While she seems calm, even peaceful towards the world who bound her in the ground.
Her body waits through the winter than she is robbed of all she had and then buried within the the bogs once again. Still she waits until some one unearths her sickish body from her would be eternal tomb. There she sits on the bank of the bog with her body torn and disheveled, for the people to figure out her story.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
My Interpretation of Seamus Heaney's Antaeus
Antaeus
Seamus Heaney starts this poem by playing as Antaeus who has much strength and is feared by many people who seek to gain immortal fame. Talking to those who would or could overthrow him, even though he would just be reborn and start all over again until the next hero comes along to fight him. He seems to be depressed for living for one and only one thing. He seems to be a bit arrogant in his profession. Making sure that nobody can gain some kind of princely reputation till they go through him.
He lies in wait until the next person comes along. Speaking to those who wish to gain splendour. Saying that he is their enemy and that they will have to defeat him first. He seems to rest in nature until the time comes when he is to be lifted and to fight, then to return back into the earth until his services be needed again on the next stranger.
The speaker seems to be all powerful and a little wary of his situation. Preying on the unsuspecting for a match in the ring. (I'm thinking of wrestling) Antaeus seems to have no worries and only lives for the day.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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