Essay

(b) ‘Heaney’s poetry continues to engage readers through its poetic treatment of man’s relationship to nature.’ In the light of your critical study, does this statement resonate with your own interpretation of Heaney’s poetry' In your response, make detailed reference to TWO poems you have studied. Seamus Heaney’s poetry offers the reader a profound insight on nature, and the concept of death as an omnipresent overshadowing subject matter. The poetry specifically reflects on the heritage, sustainability and ramifications of the land on humanity through the intrinsic relationship between man and nature. Heaney illuminates these key ideas through the exploration of Irish history in which he reflects on both the affinity between man and nature and the inevitability of death on a national level. It is through Heaney’s exploration of such universal ideas which essentially contributes to the textual integrity of the poems, allowing Heaney’s texts to transcend time and thus continue to engage readers. These reflections are exposed within both ‘requiem for the croppies’ and ‘At a potato digging’. Heaney’s poem ‘Requiem for the croppies’ although written on the fifteenth anniversary of the 1916 Easter uprising, focuses on the battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798 between the English and Irish. ‘Requiem’ retells the story of Ireland’s unremitting desire for home rule and the harsh outcomes which followed. Heaney reflects upon this battle and in particular on nature as a benevolent force, depended on to sustain man throughout the battle. The poem begins with visual imagery “the pockets of our greatcoats full of barley” conveys the significance of nature to man throughout the battle as it provided a form of sustenance in a time of desperate need. The croppies beneficial use of the inscrutable forces of nature is evident as “We'd cut through reins and rider with the pike”. In doing so Heaney implies an ironic co-operation between aspects of Irish nature and the Irish rebel which is brought about by these “new tactics”. Unlike ‘Requiem,’ Heaney’s poem ‘At a potato digging’ is concerned with nature’s dominance over man in Irish history, as it reflects upon the potato famine which affected Ireland from 1845-49. The cataclysmic results of the fail in potato crop caused millions of Irish citizens to become powerless over their fate and as a consequence at the mercy of nature. Heaney describes the modern day workers having “bowed heads” praying to their “famine God”. This vivid religious imagery effectively depicts the Irish people’s extreme desperation, dependence and connection with nature as a provider, so much so that the potatoes are then later made reference to as ‘mother’, symbolising the intense relationship between the farmer and the crop. The value of the potatoes is furthermore extrapolated at the end of the second stanza where a physical description of the potatoes when being dug up from the ground is used, as Heaney describes a “clean birth” in reference to the potatoes before the famine begun. Heaney’s depiction of death in ‘Requiem for the croppies’ is explored in the terms of war on a national level, as Heaney reflects on the Irish past of Vinegar Hill and the cataclysmic events which followed. Yet the immense loss of life due to the horrific slaughter of the Irish croppies is not made mention to until the last stanza as the poem shifts from upbeat to a more somber tone to describe the horror of the final battle. Heaney introduces the reader to the “fatal conclave” which he then goes on to effectively use visual imagery to depict the mass amounts of bloodshed of the croppies, “The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave”. The compact structure and the use of an untraditional sonnet form convey intense emotional resonance amongst the reader. Through the rebirth of the barley, the poem maintains a cyclical nature, as Heaney suggests the unchanging cycle of Irish history and thus questions the repetition of history. The underlying component of death within “At a potato digging” is foreshadowed once more on a national level in regards to the deaths of millions of Irish citizens due to the fail of the potato crop. The poem like ‘Requiem’ ignites on the past experiences of the Irish, yet echoes the suffering which was endured due to the force of nature. Part three of the poem focuses specifically on the death of the Irish as it opens with the image of starving people depicted as “Live skulls, blind-eyed, balanced on wild higgledy skeletons” is a contrast to the physical image of the potatoes “To be piled in pits; live skulls, blind-eyed” at the end of the second stanza. Heaney reinforces the idea of death and the hardships endured through cacophony and the use of plosive language in “beaks of famine” that “snipped at guts”, here the reader is given the horrific vision of people as carrion meat for vultures. The poem then closes with visual and olfactory imagery of “stinking”, “fouled”, “pus” and “running sore” serve as a reminder that although the famine is over it lives on in the memory of the people. Whilst death is an outcome resulting from the battle between the English and the Irish (croppies) Heaney amplifies nature’s role as a benevolent force and the affinity between humanity and nature throughout the war. The bond is once more reinforced within ‘At a potato digging’ where the Irish evidently place a strong reliance on nature to survive, yet the poem retells the harsh outcomes due to nature’s inefficiency to do so. In conclusion it is through Heaney’s sophisticated and in depth examination of the universal ideas of death and man’s relationship with nature and the incorporation of vivid imagery and extended metaphors which intrigues all readers yet also engages readers from all stages of life.