Blackberry Picking Seamus Heaney Analysis

In the poem "Blackberry-Picking" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker conveys a literal description of picking or harvesting blackberries by using imagery, metaphors and similes, rhyme, and diction, but the speaker also conveys a deeper meaning of the poem through his description. By using imagery such as "heavy rain and sun," "glossy purple clot," "red, green, hard as a knot," "stains upon the tongue," "red ones inked up," "thorn pricks," "rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache," "canfuls smelt of rot," and "sweet flesh would turn sour," the speaker describes a chronological order of a harvesting event to allow readers to visualize. This helps the readers to understand a literal description of blackberry-picking in late Autumn. Metaphors like "stains upon the tongue and lust for picking," "once off the bush," "a rat-grey
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not" all explain the deeper meaning of the poem. The metaphors project a message that means not all great things appear perfect when you get to know them better. The "blackberry" may stand for something lovely but it never remains lovely. The speaker uses "once off the bush" to explain that once the fruits are picked, the fruit will not remain the same. This could be a metaphor for anything in life once one takes advantage of something, then it will not last forever. By stating "I always felt like crying," the speaker shows that the event saddened and disappointed him and that he "hoped they'd keep, knew they would not" each year. This shows that as humans, we repeat ourselves or our actions even when we know the outcomes. Therefore, this shows that nothing can be perfect, last forever, or will always go our way. The similes "hard as a knot," "like a plate of eyes," and