You can readily read it and decide for yourself. Besides the fact that various popular poems by Heaney are spread over the web, his collected works (or nearly so) are held by LibGen and Anna’s Archive.
I'd also vouch for his translation of Beowulf, which is one of the modern great translations of a work. The Translations of Seamus Heaney book also provides some fantastic context for how his translation work and own writings informed each other.
YouTube has Heaney reading his Beowulf translation (in 2 parts[0][1]) -- given that Beowulf was an oral epic, you may want to check it out.
If you want your own copy, Audible has it[2] -- it's about $15 (but they also have a free trial and occasionally Amazon offers a free download from them) -- note that according to some comments, even though it's over 2 hours, it's abridged.
And, of course, there's the printed version[3] -- it's actually bilingual. $12.76 in print, $1.99 on Kindle.
One thing that baffles me, as someone from outside Ireland, is the political meaning ascribed to Heaney’s move in the mid 1970s from Belfast to Dublin when he took up an academic position there. I’ve seen several people suggest that that move in and of itself meant that Heaney was “taking a side” in the Troubles. The poet himself never made any overt statement to the fact, and yet we’re told the move itself spoke volumes.
I am acquainted with a number of people who in childhood came south with their parents. These families were not making a political statement; they simply did not wish to be murdered.
I don't think that's a common interpretation of the move.
Heaney spent a year as a guest lecturer in UC Berkeley in 1970-'71 and realised there that his daily life in Northern Ireland had become dominated by the Troubles to an extent that was harming his development as a writer.
After that, he moved south of the border and spent 4 productive years as a full-time writer in Wicklow (a rural county south of Dublin and quite far from the conflict). He called his time in Wicklow a "retreat" in the religious sense of the word, emphasizing how it was about getting away from the world. Then, from 1976, he started taking academic jobs outside of Northern Ireland, first in Dublin and then in America.
Since long before he left Northern Ireland, he'd have been considered a prominent Nationalist by both sides, so the move south should have seemed more like opting out of the conflict than taking a side in it.
i have believed for some time now that this site is kind of like the hats in Westworld - a way of reading tech peoples thoughts so that the site's VC owner can use them in some nefarious way.
Anyhow, I'm coming in here to say that this is a nice little article about an Irish poet. However, by adding this comment, how will my contribution be interpreted by the algorithm. Will I be targeted in some way?
My inner tinfoil hat wearer has long suspected that the old timey ui choices are meant to reinforce a sense of low tech safety. I'm a political centrist from a country that isn't the United States, and probability is enough for me to prevent me from speaking and sharing freely online, especially on a platform owned by a tech company.
I like humans. Humans are creative and capable and resourceful and dangerous. Humans are fundamentally tribal. Human problems are wildly difficult to solve well (especially the dangerous tribal ones). I'll keep making and sharing food with my neighbors and peaceably slinging code and I'd love it if you joined me, even if we can't stand each other. I don't have any grand designs for world peace, but I can do this one little thing. It sure makes me less inclined toward walls and wars when someone brings me soup.
This is a very nice post. I've always told my kids, all grown now, that human beings could mess up a one car funeral. Our goal should be to not purposely do the messing. I have very firm convictions, such as law and order, but I realize that what I believe and live isn't an option for others. So, live and let live.
I also understand that I am flawed, and knowing this, how can I expect others to be perfect? I must admit, nerdy tech, books and music have always helped me to de-stress from contact with other humans.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.
Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.
My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.
(FYI, there are many videos of him reading his work on YouTube. Given that poetry is meant to be recited, and given that he had a good voice for doing so, you may find such videos rewarding).
In this comment thread there are some lovely reflections on human nature, how it manifests in technology development, etc. I had a thought recently, and this might be a place to share it that others might enjoy.
Pair programming is like nuclear fusion. There is the force of electromagnetism that causes nuclei to repel each other. Natural social awkwardness, fragile egos, conflict aversion and other similar issues cause programmers to resist pairing. Under the right conditions of heat and pressure the electro-magnetic force can be overcome, nuclei get close enough to each other, the strong nuclear force takes over, and the nuclei fuse. For programmers, when pairing starts to work well, a sort of flow state can emerge involving multiple people. Ideas start to spark back and forth, idea ignition happens, and somehow the collaboration goes to a new place that would have been entirely inaccessible to each person individually.
16 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 40.9 ms ] threadIf you want your own copy, Audible has it[2] -- it's about $15 (but they also have a free trial and occasionally Amazon offers a free download from them) -- note that according to some comments, even though it's over 2 hours, it's abridged.
And, of course, there's the printed version[3] -- it's actually bilingual. $12.76 in print, $1.99 on Kindle.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaB0trCztM0
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsxxg5P-DnY
[2] https://www.audible.com/pd/Beowulf-Audiobook/B002V5CVPY
[3] https://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-New-Verse-Translation-Bilingu...
Heaney spent a year as a guest lecturer in UC Berkeley in 1970-'71 and realised there that his daily life in Northern Ireland had become dominated by the Troubles to an extent that was harming his development as a writer.
After that, he moved south of the border and spent 4 productive years as a full-time writer in Wicklow (a rural county south of Dublin and quite far from the conflict). He called his time in Wicklow a "retreat" in the religious sense of the word, emphasizing how it was about getting away from the world. Then, from 1976, he started taking academic jobs outside of Northern Ireland, first in Dublin and then in America.
Since long before he left Northern Ireland, he'd have been considered a prominent Nationalist by both sides, so the move south should have seemed more like opting out of the conflict than taking a side in it.
Anyhow, I'm coming in here to say that this is a nice little article about an Irish poet. However, by adding this comment, how will my contribution be interpreted by the algorithm. Will I be targeted in some way?
I like humans. Humans are creative and capable and resourceful and dangerous. Humans are fundamentally tribal. Human problems are wildly difficult to solve well (especially the dangerous tribal ones). I'll keep making and sharing food with my neighbors and peaceably slinging code and I'd love it if you joined me, even if we can't stand each other. I don't have any grand designs for world peace, but I can do this one little thing. It sure makes me less inclined toward walls and wars when someone brings me soup.
I also understand that I am flawed, and knowing this, how can I expect others to be perfect? I must admit, nerdy tech, books and music have always helped me to de-stress from contact with other humans.
Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging.
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep To scatter new potatoes that we picked, Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man.
My grandfather cut more turf in a day Than any other man on Toner’s bog. Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up To drink it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods Over his shoulder, going down and down For the good turf. Digging.
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge Through living roots awaken in my head. But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.
(FYI, there are many videos of him reading his work on YouTube. Given that poetry is meant to be recited, and given that he had a good voice for doing so, you may find such videos rewarding).
Pair programming is like nuclear fusion. There is the force of electromagnetism that causes nuclei to repel each other. Natural social awkwardness, fragile egos, conflict aversion and other similar issues cause programmers to resist pairing. Under the right conditions of heat and pressure the electro-magnetic force can be overcome, nuclei get close enough to each other, the strong nuclear force takes over, and the nuclei fuse. For programmers, when pairing starts to work well, a sort of flow state can emerge involving multiple people. Ideas start to spark back and forth, idea ignition happens, and somehow the collaboration goes to a new place that would have been entirely inaccessible to each person individually.