Seamus Heaneys Background and Poetry Essay -- Seamus Heaney Poets Poe

Seamus Heaney's Background and Poetry Seamus Heaney had a Roman Catholic upbringing in a rural area of Northern Ireland. How does his poetry reflect his background? Heaney's poetry is able to reflect his background by his use of language and the technique he expresses his experiences. I will cover his background into three sections: his childhood, the community and his reflections. I will start by looking at his feelings and experiences in the poem 'Death of a Naturalist'. The poet remembers the time when he was a young child. He saw the reality of what frogs were really like in the outdoors compared to what was taught in school. In school, the frogs are described like a typical teacher talking to young pupils. It is very patronising and cosy hiding the fact that they are 'rank', off-putting and sickening in certain ways. For e.g. "the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked" and " Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting". They are described as being like grenades due to their size, shape, colour and the "scary" croaking noises that the creature makes. It was a new experience for him for he had not heard the noises before," to a coarse croaking that I had not heard before". He did not feel in the right situation and it was like he had never felt like that before. During his experience, he felt insecure, anxious and self-doubting. He puts himself down for he blames himself for the "obscene threats" the frogs were giving him. His use of language is able to quickly adjust the mood from a pleasant school setting to a horrid, smelly and repellent atmosphere. Heaney understood the straightforward and simplistic teachings at school but is bewildered and scared when he approaches the frogs. The po... ... fascinated by her he knows he shouldn't be because she has done wrong. Even though he feels so deeply of this girl he realises how foolish he was by letting them carry on with the punishment; "I who stood dumb". In some cases Heaney is able to use oxymoron in order to describe how society can be a catastrophe at times. He uses the descriptive words "civilized outrage" to show this. He puts two opposite words together to form a different meaning. Hence the word "civilize" and "outrage". Heaney has experienced many tragedies in his life from "Mid Term Break" to "Punishment". He clarifies this using his own expertise of writing to create descriptive poems like these. What must be said about him is how he is talented enough to deliver what is suppose to be delivered, very effectively in order for a reader like me to have such an impact on what is said.