Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet and Nobel laureate (1995), widely regarded as one of the finest poets of the late twentieth century.
His work draws on rural Irish life, bog landscapes, and the political troubles of Northern Ireland.
Heaney taught at Harvard and Oxford and translated *Beowulf* into modern English.
We read Heaney's "Digging" in freshman English.
Metered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
- lyricSong's text
quatrain · imagery · diction · elegy · translation · Beowulf · North · blank verse
Flat-bladed digging implement
- turfGrass-covered earth surface
- peatWaterlogged decomposed vegetation
- bogAcidic peat wetland
- soilGround matter for planting
furrow · tillage · father · grandfather · roots · ancestry · labor · farmwork
Northern Ireland's capital
- DerryUlster city, contested name
- UlsterIrish northern province
- TroublesNorthern Ireland's violent era
- Northern IrelandUK territory sharing island
bog · Catholic · nationalist · partition · sectarian · homeland
Celebrated achievement recipient
- StockholmSweden's seat of government
- 1995Year before 1996
- prizeReward for winning
- literatureBody of written works
recognition · distinction · ceremony · medal · achievement · acceptance speech · honor · canonization
Agricultural land tract
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
- countrysideRural area beyond towns
- rusticRural and unrefined
- harvestGathering mature crops
plowman · homestead · churning · thatch · hay · husbandry · rural · agrarian
Wetland-preserved ancient corpses
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- Iron AgePost-bronze historical period
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
Viking · ancient · fertility rites · punishment · archaeology · Denmark · victim · witness
verse
Metered poetic passage
lyric · quatrain · imagery · diction · elegy · translation · Beowulf · North · blank verse · enjambment
spade
Flat-bladed digging implement
soil · furrow · tillage · father · grandfather · roots · ancestry · labor · farmwork · earth
Belfast
Northern Ireland's capital
Northern Ireland · bog · Catholic · nationalist · partition · sectarian · homeland
laureate
Celebrated achievement recipient
literature · recognition · distinction · ceremony · medal · achievement · acceptance speech · honor · canonization · international acclaim
farm
Agricultural land tract
- cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
- countrysideRural area beyond towns
- rusticRural and unrefined
harvest · plowman · homestead · churning · thatch · hay · husbandry · rural · agrarian · meadow
bog bodies
Wetland-preserved ancient corpses
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- Iron AgePost-bronze historical period
preservation · Viking · ancient · fertility rites · punishment · archaeology · Denmark · victim · witness
Seamus HeaneyW.B. Yeats