Seamus Heaney
You have been asked to read a collection of Seamus Heaney’s poems to a 5th year class. Select 4 poems you would read and explain why.
Seamus Heaney is widely recognised as one of the major poets of the twentieth century. Heaney 's Poems are based on real life experiences, which can be related to in only so many ways, because of the differences in the likes of lifestyle and culture. Heaney’s poetry appeals to students as much of it deals with issues of childhood in a manner that is mature and accessible. The poems I have chosen to read to a fifth year class are ‘The Forge’, ‘The Underground’, “Mossbawn: Sunlight” and ‘A Call’. The three themes that seem to be recurring throughout Heaney’s work are, Love, Time and Isolation and I feel these are the very themes associated with the modern world of students and they would be appropriate to read to a fifth year group.
The first poem I would read is one from Seamus Heaney’s second collection titled “The Forge”. This poem was published in 1969 and was the first of many poems written by Heaney; Therefore I feel it is appropriate to read this one to the class first. “The Forge” would allow the class to stick to a literal interpretation about a blacksmith whose job is disappearing as the world changes around him, while also allowing the students to grasp the deeper images with another path into the poem. This poem is in the form of a sonnet with a clear division into an octave and a sestet. The sonnet’s opening line is the five-foot, iambic pentameter and eight of the words in this line are monosyllabic which gives the line the quality of statement. “All I know is a door into the dark”. This line would invite the class into the poem, even though they will go there hesitantly because nobody knows what the darkness holds. I would imagine it will remain a mystery to many of the students. Heaney begins the second line of this poem with “Outside” and the third line with “inside”. I would stress the
Seamus Heaney is widely recognised as one of the major poets of the twentieth century. Heaney 's Poems are based on real life experiences, which can be related to in only so many ways, because of the differences in the likes of lifestyle and culture. Heaney’s poetry appeals to students as much of it deals with issues of childhood in a manner that is mature and accessible. The poems I have chosen to read to a fifth year class are ‘The Forge’, ‘The Underground’, “Mossbawn: Sunlight” and ‘A Call’. The three themes that seem to be recurring throughout Heaney’s work are, Love, Time and Isolation and I feel these are the very themes associated with the modern world of students and they would be appropriate to read to a fifth year group.
The first poem I would read is one from Seamus Heaney’s second collection titled “The Forge”. This poem was published in 1969 and was the first of many poems written by Heaney; Therefore I feel it is appropriate to read this one to the class first. “The Forge” would allow the class to stick to a literal interpretation about a blacksmith whose job is disappearing as the world changes around him, while also allowing the students to grasp the deeper images with another path into the poem. This poem is in the form of a sonnet with a clear division into an octave and a sestet. The sonnet’s opening line is the five-foot, iambic pentameter and eight of the words in this line are monosyllabic which gives the line the quality of statement. “All I know is a door into the dark”. This line would invite the class into the poem, even though they will go there hesitantly because nobody knows what the darkness holds. I would imagine it will remain a mystery to many of the students. Heaney begins the second line of this poem with “Outside” and the third line with “inside”. I would stress the