Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)
Seamus Heaney is regarded as one of the greatest modern Irish poets. He is
one of four Irish people who have won the Nobel Prize for literature. He won
this award in 1995. He has the honour of being a professor at Harvard
University in the USA and Oxford in England. These are the top universities in
the world. So, the fact that they had him as a prof there says a lot about how
he is regarded.
Heaney was born in Co. Derry; he grew up in the countryside and a lot of his
early poems are about his life growing up. Many of these poems are in his first
book of poems which was published in 1966.
As time went by, Heaney began to write more about the wider world around
him. Heaney lived in the North during the troubles there in the 1970s. Hed
didn't directly write about these Troubles, but in many of his poems he hints at
the violence that existed in Ireland at the time.
Heaney's poems are very approachable. He writes about ordinary issues which
we can all relate to. What people find in his poems, is that he has a great
ability to give a specialness to ordinary things. Heaney continued writing
poems right up to when he died in 2013.
The Forge
This poem was written in 1969. It is Heaney’s collection ‘Door into the Dark’
that this poem comes from. It is interesting that the title of the collection is
actually used in the first line of this poem.
This is a poem about creativity, about skill, about talent. What also comes
across is how Heaney admires this talent. The central figure in this poem is the
blacksmith, he is the creator in this poem.
Another important point we should remember about this poem is that Heaney
is making a link between the blacksmith as an artist and Heaney himself as an
artist. Through the poem, we see Heaney replicating the blacksmith’s skill in
the way he writes the poem.
We notice that this poem is a sonnet. A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines.
Down through history, poets have often written sonnets on topics they feel
very passionate about. Probably the most famous sonnets in history are the
,ones written by Shakespeare. These sonnets are famous love poems. It is
probably no coincidence that Heaney shows to use the sonnet form to write
about something which is very passionate to him – the creative process – the
work of the artist.
Another reason why this poem being a sonnet is relevant, is because for poets,
a sonnet is a challenge. A sonnet is a way of testing your skill as a poet. You are
writing about something that is very close to your heart, but you must say,
everything you have to say in just fourteen lines. This takes skill and discipline.
It is like Heaney is attempting to replicate the skill of the blacksmith in the way
Heaney actually writes the poem.
When we answer on this poem, we need to remember Heaney’s very strong
admiration for the blacksmith in this poem. He begins the poem with a note of
mystery, when he refers to “A door into the dark”. It’s like an unknown world
we know very little about. In this poem Heaney brings us into that world.
In lines two and three, we see Heaney’s use of contrast. Firstly, he describes
outside of the Forge, then he describes the inside. We often refer to this as
juxtaposition (contrast). Heaney describes the outside of the forge and
deliberately shows how shabby it is. “Outside, old axes and iron hoops
rusting;”. The words ‘old’ and ‘rusting’ really add to that shabby effect. Heaney
shows how different the inside of the forge is, even adding onomatopoeia to
give us a sense of the skill and music which occurs inside the forge. “Inside the
hammered anvils short-pitched ring”.
“Short-pitched ring” = this is a really good example of onomatopoeia, the
letters ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘ch’ and ‘d’ capture the hitting sound as the blacksmith works on
the anvil. The letter ‘i’ used in “Pitched” and “ring” help capture the musical
sound of metal on metal.
This poem really sums up the phrase ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’. The
outside of the forge looks so dull and dreary, however inside, it is an amazing
place. It’s like the blacksmith himself, he is not very attractive looking, “Hairs in
his nose” this portrays that he is very rough in his manner, “Then grunts and
goes in”. We see the use of the word “Slam” to describe how he works the
metal, however, underneath all this roughness there is a creator, an artist. This
same man who has hairs in his nose and grunts, is the man who creates
beautiful works of art in the forge.
, “With a slam and a flick” - Here the poet is using contrast. “Slam” sounds
rough, but we associate the word “Flick” with skill and delicacy. This highlights
the fact that the blacksmith has a lot more than what meets the eye. he is an
artist behind the roughness.
Heaney’s description of inside the forge is really remarkable. He describes it as
a place of excitement, “The unpredictable fantail of sparks”. It is unpredictable
because you never know what’s going to happen as the sparks fly. The word
“Fantail” creates a beautiful picture as how the sparks look like as they shoot
out as the blacksmith works.
“Hiss” = This is an excellent example of onomatopoeia. This word captures the
sound of the horseshoe as it cools in the water. What Heaney has done in this
poem has brought us into the Forge with him.
As a young boy Heaney would’ve looked into this forge in amazement. What
we are getting in this poem is his sense of wonder at how different the inside
of the forge is to the outside. You get the feeling that although he knows
what's going on inside, there is still mystery, he is looking in from the outside,
but he looks in in amazement. He says, “The anvil must be somewhere in the
centre”. This is all amazing for young Heaney who looks in, he describes the
anvil very well. The imagery is excellent. Heaney accurately describes what an
anvil looks like. The working side of the anvil is, “Horned like a unicorn”. The
other side is just a block “at one end square”. He gives us a good sense of how
heavy it is when he says, “Set there, immovable”.
We wonder, is Heaney guessing where the anvil is rather than actually seeing
where it is because he says the anvil “Must be” in the centre of the forge.
Whatever way we look at this, Heaney is giving us an excellent picture of what
goes on in the forge.
“Altar” = Heaney uses this word to describe the anvil. It is an interesting choice
of word. In a church the alter is the focal point. In the forge, the anvil is the
focal point. At an alter in a church, bread and wine are transformed into the
body and blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the ordinary changes into the
extraordinary at the altar. In the forge, the very same thing happens. Old,
rusting pieces of metal are transformed into works of art, Heaney has already
introduced a mythical element to his poem by comparing the anvil to a
unicorn. Comparing the blacksmith’s work to what a priest does at communion
adds further magic to what goes on in the forge.
Seamus Heaney is regarded as one of the greatest modern Irish poets. He is
one of four Irish people who have won the Nobel Prize for literature. He won
this award in 1995. He has the honour of being a professor at Harvard
University in the USA and Oxford in England. These are the top universities in
the world. So, the fact that they had him as a prof there says a lot about how
he is regarded.
Heaney was born in Co. Derry; he grew up in the countryside and a lot of his
early poems are about his life growing up. Many of these poems are in his first
book of poems which was published in 1966.
As time went by, Heaney began to write more about the wider world around
him. Heaney lived in the North during the troubles there in the 1970s. Hed
didn't directly write about these Troubles, but in many of his poems he hints at
the violence that existed in Ireland at the time.
Heaney's poems are very approachable. He writes about ordinary issues which
we can all relate to. What people find in his poems, is that he has a great
ability to give a specialness to ordinary things. Heaney continued writing
poems right up to when he died in 2013.
The Forge
This poem was written in 1969. It is Heaney’s collection ‘Door into the Dark’
that this poem comes from. It is interesting that the title of the collection is
actually used in the first line of this poem.
This is a poem about creativity, about skill, about talent. What also comes
across is how Heaney admires this talent. The central figure in this poem is the
blacksmith, he is the creator in this poem.
Another important point we should remember about this poem is that Heaney
is making a link between the blacksmith as an artist and Heaney himself as an
artist. Through the poem, we see Heaney replicating the blacksmith’s skill in
the way he writes the poem.
We notice that this poem is a sonnet. A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines.
Down through history, poets have often written sonnets on topics they feel
very passionate about. Probably the most famous sonnets in history are the
,ones written by Shakespeare. These sonnets are famous love poems. It is
probably no coincidence that Heaney shows to use the sonnet form to write
about something which is very passionate to him – the creative process – the
work of the artist.
Another reason why this poem being a sonnet is relevant, is because for poets,
a sonnet is a challenge. A sonnet is a way of testing your skill as a poet. You are
writing about something that is very close to your heart, but you must say,
everything you have to say in just fourteen lines. This takes skill and discipline.
It is like Heaney is attempting to replicate the skill of the blacksmith in the way
Heaney actually writes the poem.
When we answer on this poem, we need to remember Heaney’s very strong
admiration for the blacksmith in this poem. He begins the poem with a note of
mystery, when he refers to “A door into the dark”. It’s like an unknown world
we know very little about. In this poem Heaney brings us into that world.
In lines two and three, we see Heaney’s use of contrast. Firstly, he describes
outside of the Forge, then he describes the inside. We often refer to this as
juxtaposition (contrast). Heaney describes the outside of the forge and
deliberately shows how shabby it is. “Outside, old axes and iron hoops
rusting;”. The words ‘old’ and ‘rusting’ really add to that shabby effect. Heaney
shows how different the inside of the forge is, even adding onomatopoeia to
give us a sense of the skill and music which occurs inside the forge. “Inside the
hammered anvils short-pitched ring”.
“Short-pitched ring” = this is a really good example of onomatopoeia, the
letters ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘ch’ and ‘d’ capture the hitting sound as the blacksmith works on
the anvil. The letter ‘i’ used in “Pitched” and “ring” help capture the musical
sound of metal on metal.
This poem really sums up the phrase ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’. The
outside of the forge looks so dull and dreary, however inside, it is an amazing
place. It’s like the blacksmith himself, he is not very attractive looking, “Hairs in
his nose” this portrays that he is very rough in his manner, “Then grunts and
goes in”. We see the use of the word “Slam” to describe how he works the
metal, however, underneath all this roughness there is a creator, an artist. This
same man who has hairs in his nose and grunts, is the man who creates
beautiful works of art in the forge.
, “With a slam and a flick” - Here the poet is using contrast. “Slam” sounds
rough, but we associate the word “Flick” with skill and delicacy. This highlights
the fact that the blacksmith has a lot more than what meets the eye. he is an
artist behind the roughness.
Heaney’s description of inside the forge is really remarkable. He describes it as
a place of excitement, “The unpredictable fantail of sparks”. It is unpredictable
because you never know what’s going to happen as the sparks fly. The word
“Fantail” creates a beautiful picture as how the sparks look like as they shoot
out as the blacksmith works.
“Hiss” = This is an excellent example of onomatopoeia. This word captures the
sound of the horseshoe as it cools in the water. What Heaney has done in this
poem has brought us into the Forge with him.
As a young boy Heaney would’ve looked into this forge in amazement. What
we are getting in this poem is his sense of wonder at how different the inside
of the forge is to the outside. You get the feeling that although he knows
what's going on inside, there is still mystery, he is looking in from the outside,
but he looks in in amazement. He says, “The anvil must be somewhere in the
centre”. This is all amazing for young Heaney who looks in, he describes the
anvil very well. The imagery is excellent. Heaney accurately describes what an
anvil looks like. The working side of the anvil is, “Horned like a unicorn”. The
other side is just a block “at one end square”. He gives us a good sense of how
heavy it is when he says, “Set there, immovable”.
We wonder, is Heaney guessing where the anvil is rather than actually seeing
where it is because he says the anvil “Must be” in the centre of the forge.
Whatever way we look at this, Heaney is giving us an excellent picture of what
goes on in the forge.
“Altar” = Heaney uses this word to describe the anvil. It is an interesting choice
of word. In a church the alter is the focal point. In the forge, the anvil is the
focal point. At an alter in a church, bread and wine are transformed into the
body and blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the ordinary changes into the
extraordinary at the altar. In the forge, the very same thing happens. Old,
rusting pieces of metal are transformed into works of art, Heaney has already
introduced a mythical element to his poem by comparing the anvil to a
unicorn. Comparing the blacksmith’s work to what a priest does at communion
adds further magic to what goes on in the forge.
