# Seamus Heaney has died. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590 "2013-08-30T17:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/1 "2013-08-30T17:18:08Z")
> **[Seamus Heaney obituary: Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/seamus-heaney-obituary-nobel-prizewinning-irish-poet-8791807.html)** > > He was described in Punch as writing ‘with the authority of a man who has his own vision of the world’ 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.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/2 "2013-08-30T17:21:52Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > One of my favorite Irish poets. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/3 "2013-08-30T17:46:22Z")
A truly great loss. “Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/4 "2013-08-30T18:12:10Z")
Aww shit, for a second, I thought it said “Sean Hannity”. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/5 "2013-08-30T18:58:44Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/6 "2013-08-30T19:12:14Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/7 "2013-08-30T20:10:39Z")
A four foot box, a foot for every year. [Mid-Term Break](http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/seamus_heaney/poems/12698) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/8 "2013-08-30T20:14:26Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > A four foot box, a foot for every year. > > [Mid-Term Break](http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/seamus_heaney/poems/12698) That’s the poem that got me into Heaney. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/9 "2013-08-30T20:23:49Z")
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. [The Tollund Man](http://www.tollundman.dk/heaney.asp) \*… Out here in Jutland In the old man-killing parishes I will feel lost, Unhappy and at home. \* ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/10 "2013-08-30T20:24:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/11 "2013-08-30T22:55:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/12 "2013-08-31T00:49:28Z")
Yes, I loved his Beowulf translation. The audio version is magnificent. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/13 "2013-08-31T00:50:54Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > 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. So yes. His Beowulf was my introduction to his writing, as it were, and it is one of my favorite poetry re-reads. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/14 "2013-08-31T18:23:42Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > … his translation of Beowulf … best in the middle of January, when the days are about eight minutes long. 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? ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/15 "2013-08-31T18:36:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seamus-heaney-has-died/667590/16 "2013-08-31T19:30:10Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > A four foot box, a foot for every year. > > [Mid-Term Break](http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/seamus_heaney/poems/12698) Yeah… that’s one of my favorite poems ever.