I first met Seamus Heaney in the pages of Beowulf, his 2001 translation that was both bestselling and award-winning. (Who would have thought that Beowulf – Beowulf! – could be a bestseller? I’m still waiting for the YouTube version of The Epic of Gilgamesh to go viral.) I hadn’t read Beowulf since college, and Heaney’s translations rightfully deserved all the awards and recognitions it received.
Last year, I bought his Selected Poems 1966-1996, but confess I haven’t read it yet. I also have Dennis O’Driscoll’s Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, but I haven’t read it yet, either. I think I’m waiting for the right moment to read both of them together.
What I did tackle was Heaney’s most recent volume of poems, Human Chain. It’s skinnier, for one thing. And I suspect that while the title of Selected Poems suggests that it is only representative of his body of work, in fact he might have come close to selecting everything.
Human Chain refutes the notion that poetry is the province of the young. It’s a collection of poems that demonstrates Heaney’s love of words and language, carefully chiseled and strung together like brilliant diamonds. The poems have to be read carefully and slowly, to truly see what a master of words can do.
Here is Heaney’s take on a familiar Gospel story, entitled “Miracle:”
Not the one who takes up his bed and walks
But the ones who have known him all along
And carry him in—
Their shoulders number, the ache and stoop deeplocked
In their backs, the stretcher handles
Slippery with sweat. And no let-up
Until he’s strapped on tight, made tiltable
And raised to the tiled roof, then lowered for healing.
Be mindful of them as they stand and wait
For the burn of the paid-out ropes to cool,
Their slight lightheadedness and incredulity
To pass, those ones who had known him all along.
What Heaney is suggesting here is that the “miracle” – the healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof by his friends – is as much about the friends as it is the healing.
This sense of alternative view, or unexpected view, permeates the poems of the volume. The poems range in topic from geography (Ireland) to eulogies for friends who have died, and poems dedicated to friends still living. In that sense, Human Chain represents a kind of summing up of a poet’s life.
And he does it in beautiful ways, shaping and polishing to a keen glow and sparkle. From “Hermit’s Songs:”
With cut-offs of black calico,
Remnants of old blackout blinds
Ironed, tacked with criss-cross threads,
We jacketed the issued books.
Less durable if more desired,
The mealy textured wallpaper:
Its brede of bosomed roses pressed
And flattened under smoothing irons.
Brown parcel paper, if need be.
Newsprint, even. Anything
To make a convert for the newness,
Learn you were a keeper only.
“Its brede of bosomed roses pressed” – what a wonderful four-beat line. It’s part of what Heaney calls “hermit songs, ” and it has the flow and rhythm of a song.
The master gem-cutter continues to work his wonder.
Photograph by Kelle Sauer. Sourced via Flickr. Post by Glynn Young, author of Dancing Priest.
—–
Buy a year of Every Day Poems, just $5.99— Read a poem a day, become a better poet. In July we’re exploring the theme The Cento.
- A History of Children’s Stories: “The Haunted Wood” by Sam Leith - May 20, 2025
- World War II Had Its Poets, Too - May 15, 2025
- Czeslaw Milosz, 1946-1953: “Poet in the New World” - May 13, 2025
Claire says
glynn,
seamus has this way doesn’t he?
denise blake, another irish poet who i know well and who i took writing classes with has been mentored by heaney and his words often penetrated our class discussion beside her lakeside home.
he has a unique perspective and i often thought to myself that i wish he was a photographer instead.
L. L. Barkat says
First, I must simply say something about that photo. Poetry, it is. (Claire, maybe Kelly is the poet who chose to find herself in photography instead? 🙂
I love a review that begins with a confession of not-reading. Just this week, I’ve been having a similar conversation with a few people who feel woefully behind on the literary landscape. There is no “behind” if we simply choose to encounter a poem right here and right now, which you have helped us do, Glynn.
And, Claire. Claire! You took a writing class with an Irish poet? How could I not know this? (Speaking of being “behind”.) You always give me something new to wonder about 🙂
Maureen Doallas says
I’ve read a lot of Heaney but have resisted “Beowulf”, despite picking it up many times while browsing poetry shelves.
I had to look up Denise Blake (since Claire’s study with her puts us within degrees of Heaney). Love the title of her 2010 collection “How to Spin Without Getting Dizzy”. In an interview she said she started to love poetry when she read Heaney’s poem “Docker” and had not begun writing poems until she was in her 30s. She must be an inspiring teacher. Her advice to writers-to-be: “Look carefully at the word emerging; it carries hope and a future.”
L. L. Barkat says
Hmmm. Sounds like the beginnings of an interview… 😉
Claire will introduce you, if you’re interested.
davis says
links and chains
chains and links
tender kindness
shall reap
a long golden
harvest
Kathleen says
Ahhhhhh. iLove this delicious inspiration. Thanks Glynn. I love all you peoples here on this page.