Author: August Heinrich

One of the constant themes present throughout the majority of Heaney’s work is his conflicted sense of belonging, particularly considering the time he spent away from his homeland and his Catholic upbringing. Many expected his sympathies to remain loyal to the oppressed Catholics in Northern Ireland, but Heaney was always careful when writing about controversial subjects, keeping cautious not to adhere to the inclinations of mob rule in his poetry.

In an interview with Tiago Moura, Heaney describes the significance behind his play on the words “herd” and “heard.” He proclaims the danger of “h.e.r.d. feelings” that must be regarded with caution due to the unpredictable and often violent tendencies of mob rule. In the midst of this sort of chaos, he asserts that it is the duty of the writer, the individual to be “heard,” and to depict the subject matter as a separate entity from the “tribe.” Heaney admits that this is an exceptionally fine line to straddle, and associates his own struggles of this nature with those of Black- American poets during the American Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s.

This struck me as a profound association, and it serves as an intriguing parallel to his own struggles of finding his place. It puts the writer in a difficult position, forcing them to serve as the “voice” or “consciousness” of his/her people and stand up for their interests or to assess the situation objectively and seek an alternative action. His example with Black-American poets identifies the substantial difference between the use of “I,” singular, and the use of “we,” plural. Especially during times of crisis, this seemingly trivial distinction may drastically alter the interpretation of the poet’s political sympathies. The Civil Rights movement serves as a more familiar context to portray Heaney’s perspective from when regarding it through the scope of a Black-American poet abroad. This interview also serves to explain how crucial the meticulousness of word choice and placement can be, especially when writing in the midst of crisis.

The interview is about three and a half minutes long, and offers some interesting perspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7sskc1pi_k

 

I was perplexed by the frequent shifts in tone of Heaney’s poem, “Oysters,” and the contrast between the luxury of eating them and his description of the rigorous processes that allow him such privilege. The opening stanza creates a euphoric tone indicating the richness of the oysters, but shifts abruptly to the harsh process of collecting them.  Throughout the poem, Heaney paints an increasingly harsh picture of the logistics of the oysters’ delivery while he enjoys the delicacy in a detached state from the process.

The metaphor represents the harsh social and political conditions being faced by those living in Northern Ireland during the 1970’s, a time of violence and hardship.   Heaney indirectly describes the state of Northern Ireland and its occupants through the oysters as “ripped and shucked and scattered,” due to the “philandering” of the British military and increasing violence in the area during the peak of Protestant and Catholic tensions.  Heaney’s portrayal of himself in this poem recognizes his position of privilege, but displays his understanding of his position as a poet in the midst of a chaotic uprising that ultimately fuels his writing.  I would imagine that this adheres to Heaney’s ambivalence in his sense of belonging.  Though he tries not to engage the situation radically, one can see his sense of responsibility to comment on the events unfolding as a leading voice in Irish culture.  I can’t tell for certain if he feels guilty for his position of privilege from the poem.  He “toasts friendship” over oysters acquired through conflict, but what does that mean if the conflict is that of Northern Ireland?  It may fuel his writing, but clearly Heaney wouldn’t ask for any of that.  It seems to suggest that by understanding the conflict that feeds him his material he has a responsibility to make sense of it, in his case, by turning it into artful poetry.  This idea appears true in the final line, in which the conflict “quickens [Heaney] into verb,” or writing.