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The Stop
Seamus Heaney (1939 - 2013) was an Irish translator and poet who won the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. Born in County Derry in Northern Ireland, he was the first-born of a family which would eventually contain nine children. His father was a farmer and cattle-dealer who loved the rural life, but his mother’s family was more connected with the ‘modern world than with the traditional rural economy’ as her relatives were employed in the local linen mill. Raised as a ‘country boy’ until he left the farm for boarding school at 12,1 he was permanently influenced by his childhood exposure to the rawness of of nature. Even after a lifetime filled with moves ‘farther and farther away from his birthplace,’ Heaney considered these travels ‘more geographical than psychological,’ with rural County Derry being forever the ‘country of the mind’ where much of his poetry is grounded.2
Widely regarded as one of the most important poets of the 20th century, Heaney’s work is notable for its ‘aural beauty, its finely-wrought textures, and its deep engagement with the landscape and culture of Northern Ireland.’ At his boarding school3 he was taught Latin and Irish which - as an English scholar at Queen’s University Belfast - would be enriched by his study of Anglo-Saxon and eventually inform his poetry. A master of the use of sound, music, and rhythm, his poems use rich, evocative imagery to explore the complex relationship between the present and the past, and offer a ‘nuanced and sensitive portrait of a divided society.’
After university, Heaney taught secondary school for a year before lecturing in colleges and universities in Dublin and Belfast. In the 1960s, he first came to public attention as one of a group of poets who composed a sort of ‘Northern School’ within Irish writing. Although Heaney was both ‘stylistically and temperamentally different’ from the other members, they all shared the ‘fate of having been born into a society deeply divided along religious and political lines, one which was doomed … to suffer a quarter-century of violence, polarisation and inner distrust.’ Heaney’s themes at this time darkened as he became preoccupied with the ‘question of poetry’s responsibilities and prerogatives in the world.’ He also began to see poetry as occupying a unique position between the ‘need for creative freedom within itself’ and the equivalent pressure to ‘express the sense of social obligation felt by the poet as citizen.’
The author of over 20 volumes of poetry and criticism, Heaney’s first collection - Death of a Naturalist - was published in 1966 to critical and commercial success. This book and its successor - Door into the Dark (1969) - were remarkable for their evocation of a ‘hard, mainly rural life with rare exactness.’ Using descriptions of ‘rural labourers and their tasks and contemplations of natural phenomena - filtered through childhood and adulthood,’ his poetry was celebrated for its ability to make the reader ‘see, hear, smell, [and] taste this life, which in his words is not provincial, but parochial; provincialism hints at the minor or the mediocre, but all parishes, rural or urban, are equal as communities of the human spirit.’
Heaney’s beginnings as a poet coincided with his meeting Marie Devlin, his future wife. Also the product of a large family - many of whom became artists and writers - Marie became central to his life, both professionally and imaginatively, appearing directly and indirectly in individual poems. Following a ‘very liberating’ year spent as a visiting lecturer at Berkeley in 1970-71, Heaney was emboldened by a ‘sense of self-challenge and new scope,’ and upon his return to Ireland resigned his position at Queen’s University and moved into a cottage in County Wicklow to become a full-time poet and freelance writer. Heaney continued to teach while writing, and in 1982 joined Harvard University as the Boyleston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory - a post he held until 2006 - while later concurrently serving as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University (1989-1994). In 1995 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for ‘works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.’ Heaney died in 2013 at the age of 74.
Follow these links to read a few of his poems:
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to a very short (2:55) video from the New Yorker’s Comma Queen who, for the first time, visits the only pencil boutique in NYC. It’s interesting and eclectic - and if you’re ever in the mood for a deep dive into punctuation and grammar, the Comma Queen series of videos is the way to go.
A Visit to New York City's Only Pencil Boutique
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf (1999). Believed to have been composed around the 8th century CE, the epic poem - written in Old English - tells the story of Beowulf, a hero of the Scandinavian Geats. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, asks for his help defeating the monster Grendel who has been attacking his mead hall and killing his men. Beowulf agrees and kills Grendel, only to become embroiled in another fight with Grendel’s mother. Following his victory over her, Beowulf returns to Geatland and becomes king. Fifty years later, he defeats a fire-breathing dragon, but is mortally wounded in the process.
Filled with heroic imagery and symbolism, the poem is a complex exploration of themes such as good versus evil, loyalty, generosity and heroism - many of which remain relevant today. Unfortunately, Beowulf is rarely read outside of the English classroom,4 which for many people makes it seem stuffy and outdated. Heaney’s translation, however, is inspired. Give it a chance.
Remember: While you could purchase Beowulf: A New Translation from Amazon, you could also get it from a local new or used bookstore. Or even a charity shop. Or check it out from the library. All of which are better options for everyone.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a collection of five tracks I’ve recently been listening to. None of them have anything specifically to do with the Stop, except that they each tell a good story - and kind of fit a summertime vibe: ‘Me & Magdalena’ (The Monkees, 2016), ‘A Pirate Looks at Forty’ (Jimmy Buffett, 1974), ‘American Pie’ (Don McLean, 1971), ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ (Van Morrison, 1967) and ‘Tangerine’ (Led Zeppelin, 1970).5
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Seamus Heaney’s Essay on Yeats (1995):
‘We go to poetry, we go to literature in general, to be forwarded within ourselves.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
This was a profoundly important move in his life, which he described as his removal from ‘the earth of farm labour to the heaven of education.’
Though I read his Beowulf translation years ago, I’ve only recently discovered Heaney’s poetry as part of a renewed interest in that form. Sources for today’s Stop include Seamus Heaney (Nobel), Seamus Heaney (Britannica) and Seamus Heaney (Poetry Foundation).
St Columb’s College, Derry.
And then, often only in part. In fact, when I taught Beowulf in the 90s, we only read selected excerpts from each of the three battles - with no sense of the overarching story at all.
Yes, the first track is by The Monkees. I truly had no idea this song existed - when I hear ‘The Monkees’, I think of Davy Jones, The Brady Bunch, ‘Last Train to Clarksville’, ‘Daydream Believer’, etc. However, thanks to my 17 y/o daughter, my thoughts have changed - and this is a really good tune. The Jimmy Buffett song has been a favourite of mine since it was played on repeat in a dorm room or two during college parties in the late 80s - though when you’re not looking at 40 for another 20 years, the lyrics are different from when you’re looking back on it for almost as many. The McLean, Morrison and Led Zeppelin tracks are all classics, of course, and I thought they fit here as well as anywhere.