On Seamus Heaney

R. F. Foster, 1949-

Book - 2020

"Seamus Heaney was the leading Irish poet of the second half of the twentieth century, and, after W. B. Yeats, arguably the most significant poet in the history of Irish literature. When he died in 2013 the public reaction in Ireland was extraordinary, and the outpouring of feeling decisively demonstrated that he occupied an exceptional place in national life. The words of his last message to his wife, 'Noli timere', 'Don't be afraid', appeared over and over again on social media, while key phrases from favourite poems became and have remained canonical. In this short book, conceived for the Writers on Writers series, historian Roy Foster offers an extended and largley chronological reflection upon Heaney'...s life, work and historical context, from the poet's origins in Northern Ireland and the publication of Death of a Naturalist in 1966, through the explosive impact of his 1975 collection North, and then into his years as a 'world poet' and an Irish writer with a powerful influence on English literature generally. Foster considers virtually all of Heaney's major output, including later volumes such as The Spirit Level and Human Chain, as well as Heaney's translation of Beowulf and his renderings from Virgil. Throughout the book, Foster conveys something of Heaney's charismatic, expansive and subtle personality, as well as the impact of his work in both the USA and in Europe. Certain themes emerge throughout, such as the way Heaney maintained a deceptive simplicity throughout his writing career, his relations with classical literature and the poetry of dissidence in Eastern Europe, and the increasing presence of the unseen and even spiritual in his later work. Foster also highlights Heaney's importance as a critic and the largely unacknowledged ways in which his own trajectory echoed that of the life and work of Yeats. Though Heaney evaded direct comparisons with his Nobel-prizewinning predecessor, he personified the quality which he attributed to Yeats: 'the gift of establishing authority within a culture'. Both poets made a challenging and oblique use of autobiography and personal history in their work, and both sustained a very particular and sometimes contested relation to the life of their country. Foster shows us that Heaney, like Yeats, came to personify and express the Ireland of his time with unique force and resonance"--

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Subjects
Published
Princeton : Princeton University Press [2020]
Language
English
Main Author
R. F. Foster, 1949- (author)
Physical Description
xiii, 228 pages ; 20 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780691174372
  • Certus
  • Kinship
  • The same root
  • In the middle of his journey
  • Alphabetical order
  • The moment of mortality
  • The bird on the roof
  • Clearance.
Review by Choice Review

Foster's succinct text provides a glimpse into the quotidian elements that make Seamus Heaney's poetry resonate with all readers, from the least to the most educated. Split into eight chapters covering Heaney's life span, Foster (Queen Mary Univ. of London, UK; emer. Univ. of Oxford, UK) uses correspondence to and from Heaney, professional criticism, and both unpublished drafts and final versions of some of his most famous pieces to illustrate the complexity of this "regular lad" who recognized both the blessings and burdens of pursuing his craft as a profession. Readers see Heaney grappling with issues of identity (Irish versus British, North versus South, personal versus political), process, and fame. The joy of this book emanates from the sense of intimacy that Foster captures in each epoch, enabling readers to get a sense of Heaney's personality. These moments of being, such as anecdotes about Heaney's family, friends, and zest for life, cement Heaney as a poet of the people. This book is an essential complement to any study of Heaney's poetry, as it creates a more comprehensive understanding of how life informs art. Summing Up: Essential. All levels. --Valerie Ann Murrenus Pilmaier, UW-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Foster (Vivid Faces), a Queen Mary University professor of Irish history and literature, delivers a succinct but insightful critical biography that puts the poetry of Seamus Heaney (1939--2013) firmly in the context of his life and times. Often referring back to the original drafts of Heaney's work and correspondence to follow his artistic evolution, Foster traces the arc of Heaney's career, from his early days in his native Northern Ireland--as a childhood literary prodigy in Derry and then as part of a circle of talented young Belfast writers--to his emergence onto a wider international stage. Though Foster's admiration for Heaney is obvious, he gives a balanced account of how Heaney's writing has been received, registering criticisms that Heaney's poems, particularly in his seminal 1975 collection, North, refuse to take an explicit stance on the Troubles' sectarian violence. Foster also shows that Heaney's most significant early poetic influences--William Wordsworth and Gerard Manley Hopkins--were English, and that Heaney, in his own words, aimed "to take the English lyric and make it eat stuff that it has never eaten before... like all the messy and, it would seem, incomprehensible obsessions in the North ." This reflective and incisive study works both as an academic research aid and as an accessible primer for general poetry readers. (Aug.)

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