One of my favorite Irish poets.
“The way you swim must be the dolphin’s way …
Out on your own,
Filling the elements with signatures on your own frequency,
Echo-soundings, Searches, Probes, Allurements,
Elver-gleams in the dark of the whole sea.”
One of my favorite poets, period. He also has the distinction of being the only person I “stalked” for an autograph, waiting around like a groupie after a reading in Edinburgh, hoping he’d exit through a back alley (he did.)
A truly great loss.
“Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.”
Aww shit, for a second, I thought it said “Sean Hannity”.
I’m a sucker for love in “anticipation” so …
Twice Shy
Her scarf a la Bardot,
In suede flats for the walk,
She came with me one evening
For air and friendly talk.
We crossed the quiet river,
Took the embankment walk.
…
Seamus Heaney
Just a reminder – let’s honor Mr. Heaney by respecting his copyrights… keep excerpts short and link to the full poem.
Thanks,
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
That’s the poem that got me into Heaney.
His bog body poems are the ones that have always gotten to me. I’ve got a thing for the iron age because of him.
*… Out here in Jutland
In the old man-killing parishes
I will feel lost,
Unhappy and at home. *
Oh. I didn’t know his name, or even read any poems since. But I clicked the link and…
He was at a literary event in my hometown on the Faroe Islands, must be 15 years ago now. He had a reading. I remember every poem he read, almost word for word. “Digging” and “Mid-term Break” hit me hard.
Don’t know why I never sought out more of his work. I’ve though about those two poems often since I heard them, and they speak to me still.
A truly great poet.
I’ve read his translation of Beowulf at least five times. It’s best in the middle of January, when the days are about eight minutes long.
Yes, I loved his Beowulf translation. The audio version is magnificent.
Yes. So yes. His Beowulf was my introduction to his writing, as it were, and it is one of my favorite poetry re-reads.
Another vote for Beowulf, noting that it’s good for summer, too.
Early in poem, Beowulf and his buddies go for ocean swims – naked except for their swords, worn in case of encounters with “the fierce sea fishes”. How did high school lit make this dull?
He was a lovely, lovely person. When so many of my colleagues contacted the subjects of their research they got a standard ‘PFO’ letter. Not so with the lovely Mr Heaney, who made a good chunk of my MA on Antigone possible.
I have a few precious treasures that I would take from a burning house, and his letter is one.
Yeah… that’s one of my favorite poems ever.