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Death of a Naturalist Faber Pocket Poetry Seamus Heaney 9780571202409 Books

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Death of a Naturalist Faber Pocket Poetry Seamus Heaney 9780571202409 Books

DEATH OF A NATURALIST was Seamus Heaney's first published collection of poems. It appeared in 1966, when he was twenty-seven. Heaney grew up in a rural environment in Northern Ireland. Many of the poems, especially the early ones in the book, reflect that environment -- Heaney's love for it as well as his leave-taking of it. (Heaney was perhaps a little too squeamish to stay in the countryside, as reflected in the title poem.) Several poems deal with love and marriage. Most are personal; a few touch on larger matters, such as the Great Famine.

It is an impressive debut collection, worthy of a poet destined to be a Nobel Prize laureate. All of the poems have a formal structure, and many of them employ rhyme. There is one practice that I find overused: isolating a single word at the end of a line (the first word of the next sentence) or at the beginning of a line (the last word of the carry-over sentence). While few of the poems are profound or spark a desire to memorize, they all are comprehensible, almost all are engaging, and none are silly. Of the thirty-four poems, I marked nine to re-read at some indefinite time in the future, but I suspect that when I do pick up the book again I will re-read it in its entirety.

The longest poem covers three pages. The shortest is only nine lines. Entitled "Lovers on Aran" (the Aran Islands lie off the west coast of Ireland), here it is:

The timeless waves, bright, sifting, broken glass,
Came dazzling around, into the rocks,
Came glinting, sifting from the Americas

To possess Aran. Or did Aran rush
To throw wide arms of rock around a tide
That yielded with an ebb, with a soft crash?

Did sea define the land or land the sea?
Each drew new meaning from the waves' collision.
Sea broke on land to full identity.


Tags : Death of a Naturalist (Faber Pocket Poetry) [Seamus Heaney] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Poems deal with fathers, the past, mortality, nature, violence, school, rural life, love, fear, and childhood.,Seamus Heaney,Death of a Naturalist (Faber Pocket Poetry),Faber & Faber,0571202403

Death of a Naturalist Faber Pocket Poetry Seamus Heaney 9780571202409 Books Reviews

Seamus Heaney is a good writer. His book has many short poems in it that are somewhat funny. I recommend this book.
Great work. I have spent many hours reading the poems. Wonderful insight into the human condition. What a terrible loss to all of us his death was.

Jack Lyons
What a beautiful work of poetry. I enjoyed this so much.
Very thought provoking.
Great imagery.
Highly recommend this book.
Last year I decided to read one of Seamus Heaney's poems each morning, beginning with his first collection, Death of a Naturalist. I have two left in this volume. Every word is crafted with precision and care. The poetry is sublime.
One of my hustband's favorite poets.
This book contains one of the very first poems I read by this brilliant poet, who sadly died a few years back. I am very satisfied with the book and the seller.
I misplaced my original copy and this beautiful copy eased my pain! Thank you so much!
DEATH OF A NATURALIST was Seamus Heaney's first published collection of poems. It appeared in 1966, when he was twenty-seven. Heaney grew up in a rural environment in Northern Ireland. Many of the poems, especially the early ones in the book, reflect that environment -- Heaney's love for it as well as his leave-taking of it. (Heaney was perhaps a little too squeamish to stay in the countryside, as reflected in the title poem.) Several poems deal with love and marriage. Most are personal; a few touch on larger matters, such as the Great Famine.

It is an impressive debut collection, worthy of a poet destined to be a Nobel Prize laureate. All of the poems have a formal structure, and many of them employ rhyme. There is one practice that I find overused isolating a single word at the end of a line (the first word of the next sentence) or at the beginning of a line (the last word of the carry-over sentence). While few of the poems are profound or spark a desire to memorize, they all are comprehensible, almost all are engaging, and none are silly. Of the thirty-four poems, I marked nine to re-read at some indefinite time in the future, but I suspect that when I do pick up the book again I will re-read it in its entirety.

The longest poem covers three pages. The shortest is only nine lines. Entitled "Lovers on Aran" (the Aran Islands lie off the west coast of Ireland), here it is

The timeless waves, bright, sifting, broken glass,
Came dazzling around, into the rocks,
Came glinting, sifting from the Americas

To possess Aran. Or did Aran rush
To throw wide arms of rock around a tide
That yielded with an ebb, with a soft crash?

Did sea define the land or land the sea?
Each drew new meaning from the waves' collision.
Sea broke on land to full identity.