A Gifted Poet Seamus Heaney - Essay Example

Seamus Heaney The world of writing and literature is quite a competitive and difficult field to cut a niche or thrive in. Few names are as synonymous with present day literature and the past century’s literature as the name Seamus Heaney. The man is considered a legend in his own right, having achieved and attained every possible height in the world of literature. He is a gifted poet, playwright, author and translator, and is averse with well over four languages (Parker 23). Throughout his writing career that boasts an impressive half a century, he has bagged many accolades and won many hearts due to the professionalism, charismatic, energetic, intelligent yet entertaining nature of his works. Some of the prizes he has won include the T.S Elliot Prize, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry and most notably the Nobel Prize in Literature, just to name a few. Seamus Heaney was born seventy three years ago (in 1939) in Castledawson, County Derry in Northern Ireland. He was the first born in large family, having eight siblings to show for it (McCarthy 9). His father, Patrick Heaney was a cattle trader in Castledawson and most of young Seamus’ childhood was spent in the rural setting. This environment of the countryside, fuelled with other factors would prove to be important, forming an integral part of Seamus’ literary works, especially his poetry. Seamus Heaney attended a local primary school in his native town. At the tender age of twelve years, he won a scholarship to attend St Columb’s College. This was a catholic boarding school, also found within the environs of his native town. During his time at St. Columb’s, he gained further skills that would later help him map out his career. He learnt Latin and Irish languages, a fact that was crucial in his turning out to be a translator. In 1953, his family moved out from his rural County of Derry. However, his thoughts, feelings and aspirations were still strongly entangled with his rural homeland. After St. Columb’s College, the other education pot that Seamus drank from was Queen’s University in Belfast. He graduated with a degree in Literature in 1961 from Queen’s. While there, he studied Anglo-Saxon, another contributor to his translation skills. He was to later on, (1966-1972) come back to lecture at his former school. His writing career officially began while he was at Queens. His first works that earned him recognition came about in the 1960s (Buttel, 12). It is at about the same time when he met his wife, Marie Devlin. Marie was also from a large family herself. However, together, the family was blessed with a smaller family, with only three children to show for it. Marie too, is an artist, and composed a book on the myths and happenings of early Northern Ireland. She was also very instrumental in helping her husband achieve literary greatness. Much of Seamus’ life since the 1970s has been characterized with a lot of movement, as he traversed cities and towns to give lectures. He lectured at Queen’s University, then later on as a visiting lecturer at the University of California. He quit his lecturing job in order to concentrate fully on writing. Seamus Heaney has been a prolific writer and contributor of literary works. In his career, he has released at least twelve volumes of collections of poems, all dating back to as early as the mid-1960s. Indeed, his poems started receiving public attention in the 1960s. Most of his poems focused on real life issues in the society. His upbringing and environment had a great impact on how he would later turn out to be one of the most revered figures in the world of literature. During his childhood, he witnessed firsthand as his country slowly succumbed to political upheavals and civil strife. The dominance of the English over Northern Ireland and the cultural struggles in the society were some of the events that characterized his childhood (Parker 44). He presents all these in his literary works, taking the reader back to the old days of a country drowning in turmoil. His unique style of presenting his arguments in his poetic works is the main factor that catapulted him to international recognition. Having spent most of his childhood in a rural setting, he incorporates this traditional aspect of his life in his literary works, bringing out a unique, attractive, captivating and convincing approach to his poems. Some of his notable works include Death of a Naturalist, which was published in 1966, Door into the Dark (1969), the Haw Lantern (1987), the Spirit Level (1996) and Seeing Things (1999). However, the collections he published are what attracted praise and criticism alike. His first collection published in 1990, was called Selected Poems. It contained the poems he had written between 1966 and 1987. This was a major step in his career as a poet. He subsequently produced two more collections, the second being Opened Ground: Selected Poems (1966-1996) which was published in1998. The third, District and Circles published in 2006, won him the T.S Eliot Prize, the most coveted prize on poetic works in the United Kingdom. The change in the tone of his poetic works became noticeable with time (as he progressed in age) as he gradually replaced the fiery enthusiasm, zeal and vehemence that had characterized his earlier works to a more calm, sober and gentle approach (Morrison 17). Seamus Heaney’s contribution to literature has not only been through writing poems. Besides writing, he has also participated in furthering literary works and poems. He has particularly been involved in editing various poems and anthologies, most notably, Soundings: An Annual Anthology of New Irish Poetry and the May Anthology of Oxford and Cambridge Poetry. While at Queen’s University, he was in the frontline in ensuring the publication of pamphlets of poetry. He has also acted as a judge in numerous poetry competitions and has taken part in more literature conferences. Apart from poetry he is a well-recognized author and has written many books, articles in periodicals and prose. Two of his common books are Wintering Out, published in 1973 and the play the Burial at Thebes. The first one especially, highlights the political unrest and the struggle in the Irish society to break free from bondage. He has also contributed a lot in many periodicals, and has featured on multiple occasions in the daily newspapers, journals and periodicals. He is also known for his translation skills. Although he is Irish, he studied other languages in college and in the university, including English, Latin and Anglo-Saxon. He made his debut in the world of translation through the Irish poem Buile Suibhne. His translated version was published in 1984 as Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish. However, he achieved the most recognition yet in 2000 as a translator when he translated the book Beowulf (Morrison 57). Seamus Heaney’s works have not only earned him international recognition, fame and admiration; they have also won him numerous awards, prizes, accolades and nominations. The most outstanding moment of his career was in 1995 when he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Before and thereafter, he has added more trophies to his cabinet, including Commonwealth Award of Distinguished Service, Costa Book of the Year, St. Louis Literary Award, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a nomination for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature among many more. He also served as the head of the English Department in Carysfort College where he taught for some time, was named Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Boylston University and also served as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University (McCarthy 88). The Burial at Thebes is one famous play written by Heaney. The play is based in the 5th century BC setting. It is about the tragedy that befell a kingdom and two families in particular. Antigone, the main character is betrothed to Hameon, the king’s son and is meant to tie the knot soon. However, war breaks out, and Antigone’s two brothers Etocles and Polyneices are caught right in the middle of it, although on opposing sides. The brothers engage in a fight and in the process end up killing each other. After the war, Creon, the King, praises Etocles calling him a hero for having fought for the right side of the battle. Etocles is accorded a stately burial. However, Polyneices does not receive the same treatment and the King issues a warning that whoever buries him, would face punishment. Antigone, obliged to give his brother a proper send-off by according him a decent burial does so and in the process is found. She is punished and locked up in a secluded place. Afterwards, the King admits fault to the situation but at that time, Antigone had already passed on. The death of Hameon and his mother soon follow when the news of Antigone’s death reaches them. They commit suicide. Creon is left ruing his actions as he remains a lonely man. The play is as captivating as it is full of drama. Borrowed from a Greek setting, Seamus Heaney presents the play in a modern manner that hints at the current political scenes in nations. His ability to marry this ancient setting with the current situation brings out the artist in him. He also includes other episodes in the play that were not present in the original setting in a bid to bring out a clear relationship between the time and the actual occurrence of the events. He also includes stylistic devices. The story starts with Antigone deliberating why she had to lay her brother to rest despite the king’s decree (page 1). This is an event that should come much later in the play, succeeding the war. Heaney brings out the eye-catching aspect that would draw the reader’s interest by starting with the conflict and then building up the story from the beginning thereafter. He employs a great sense of imaginativeness and creativity as he explains the aftermath of the king’s actions as the play comes to an unfortunately sad end (page 53). The theme of conflict is clearly presented from the onset of the story, in the form of the warring factions and the brothers who end up killing each other. Further internal conflict consumes the king as he loses his whole family, due to his tyranny and high-handedness (page 55). The play The Burial at Thebes is just one example of the exemplary artistic performance that Heaney has upheld over the years and that as a result has catapulted him to the international limelight. His in-born gift to express his points in a simple yet thoughtful way in order to bring out the situation as if it was happening today adds tremendously to the quality of his work and is indeed the hallmark of his artistic endowment (Buttel, 63). It goes without saying that he has not just won, but actually earned all the accolades and prizes that have marked his career. His wining the Nobel Prize for Literature was a humble way in which the world could appreciate his contribution to thoughts, ideas, knowledge and even change, not just in literature but in all aspects of life, especially politics. Seamus Heaney is indeed a living legend. Works Cited "Seamus Heaney - Nobel Lecture: Crediting Poetry". Nobelprize.org. 9 Dec 2012 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1995/heaney-lecture.html Parker, Michael. Seamus Heaney: the making of the poet. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993. Print. Morrison, Blake. Seamus Heaney. London: Methuen, 1982. Print. McCarthy, Conor. Seamus Heaney and medieval poetry. Woodbridge, Suffolk: D.S. Brewer; 2008. Print. Buttel, Robert. Seamus Heaney. Lewisburg [Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 1975. Print. Read More