Seamus Heaney
Paperback | Pages: 66 pages Rating: 4.27 | 836 Users | 59 Reviews
Declare About Books Field Work
| Title | : | Field Work |
| Author | : | Seamus Heaney |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 66 pages |
| Published | : | April 1st 1981 by Farrar Straus Giroux (first published 1979) |
| Categories | : | Poetry. Cultural. Ireland |
Relation Supposing Books Field Work
"Field Work," which first appeared in 1979, is a superb collection of lyrics and narrative poems from one of the literary masters of our time. As the critic Dennis Donoghue wrote in "The New York Times Book Review": "In 1938, not a moment too soon, W. B. Yeats admonished his colleagues: 'Irish poets, learn your trade.' Seamus Heaney, born the following year, has learned his trade so well that it is now a second nature wonderfully responsive to his first. And the proof is in "Field Work," a superb book . . . [This is] a perennial poetry offered at a time when many of us have despaired of seeing such a thing." Seamus Heaney received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. His recent translations include "Beowulf" and "Diary of One Who Vanished"; his recent poetry collections include "Opened Ground" and "Electric Light." "Field Work," which first appeared in 1979, is a superb collection of lyrics and narrative poems from one of the literary masters of our time. As the critic Dennis Donoghue wrote in "The New York Times Book Review": "In 1938, not a moment too soon, W. B. Yeats admonished his colleagues: 'Irish poets, learn your trade.' Seamus Heaney, born the following year, has learned his trade so well that it is now a second nature wonderfully responsive to his first. And the proof is in "Field Work," a superb book . . . [This is] a perennial poetry offered at a time when many of us have despaired of seeing such a thing." "Heaney is keyed and pitched unlike any significant poet now at work in the language, anywhere."--Harold Bloom, "The Times Literary Supplement" "For all the qualities I list, the most important is song [and] the tune Heaney sings [is] poetry's tune, resolutions of cherished language."--Donald Hall, "The Nation"Define Books To Field Work
| Original Title: | Field Work |
| ISBN: | 0374516200 (ISBN13: 9780374516208) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating About Books Field Work
Ratings: 4.27 From 836 Users | 59 ReviewsEvaluate About Books Field Work
OystersCasualtyGlanmore Sonnets (VII & X)The OtterHomecomingsA fathers no shield for his child
I've appreciated Heaney more for reading this, but not much more. The most fixated upon poet of Northern Ireland underwhelms me. An indisputable eye for nature sure, yet he over-eggs and seems stuck in a role as editor for Farming Magazine. I did appreciate this. Too often Heaney in schools ends up putting the duller works in my lap: this gave me more range. There's real gems in this: the two 'In Memoriam' pieces, 'Elegy', 'Glanmore Sonnet VI' and the spectacular giant finale, 'Ugolino'. But no,
This was an interesting collection of poems. It starts off with the violence of Irish political conflicts haunting the waking dreams of the poet even when he retires from Belfast in disillusion. Slowly, Heaney reverts to the contemplation of nature and rural life that made Death of a Naturalist such a testament to his power to capture the vivid earthiness of the Irish countryside. Heaneys poems can rarely be read once and often require some further research on the apart of those not well versed
I enjoyed Electric Light more.
Since the death of Seamus Heaney, I returned to this work and had another look. I tried to read a poem or two each day and then relate them to the quilts made by Helen Heron (Northern Ireland). Both of them are/were such scholars who loved to explore the classics and then translate them into their own art forms (he - poetry; she-textiles). My favorite poem here remains the seductive "Oysters."
Heaney makes you work. His poems are tight, as hard as iron, at times almost cold - he writes with an edge and a precision that cuts, that is almost mathematical, and that makes the tender moments almost more stunning. "How perilous is it to chose not to love the life we're shown?" he asks. And all his poems, in a way, are about that - about the unbearable consequences of loving a place. His poems are grounded in the history and the present of Ireland, and his love and grief for his homeland is
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