Seamus Heaney
An Introduction
Published on 28. September 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-4744-0166-1 (ISBN)
Description
The first detailed introduction to the entirety of Seamus Heaney's work
This study will enable readers to gain clearer understanding of the life and major works of Seamus Heaney. It considers literary influences on Heaney, ranging from English poets such as Wordsworth, Hughes, and Auden to Irish poets such as Kavanagh and Yeats to world poets such as Virgil and Dante. It shows how Heaney was closely attuned to poetry's impact on daily life and current events even as he articulated a convincing apologia for poetry's own life and integrity. Discussing Heaney's deep immersion in Irish Catholicism, this book demonstrates how faith influenced his belief system, poetry and politics. Finally, it also considers how deeply Heaney's artistic endeavours were intertwined with politics in Northern Ireland, especially through his embrace of constitutional nationalism but rejection of physical force republicanism.
Key Features
Includes sections on biography, historical, cultural and political contexts, poetry and other genres, as well as a concluding section on primary works and secondary criticismPays special attention to the marriage of form and content in the poetry and how they work together to express subtle shades of meaningOffers close readings of Heaney's canonical poems throughout his career, including the early seminal poems such as Digging, the 'bog poems', and his many elegies, such as Casualty, Station Island, and ClearancesDraws on drafts of the poems and prose at the Heaney archives at Emory University and the National Library of Ireland
This study will enable readers to gain clearer understanding of the life and major works of Seamus Heaney. It considers literary influences on Heaney, ranging from English poets such as Wordsworth, Hughes, and Auden to Irish poets such as Kavanagh and Yeats to world poets such as Virgil and Dante. It shows how Heaney was closely attuned to poetry's impact on daily life and current events even as he articulated a convincing apologia for poetry's own life and integrity. Discussing Heaney's deep immersion in Irish Catholicism, this book demonstrates how faith influenced his belief system, poetry and politics. Finally, it also considers how deeply Heaney's artistic endeavours were intertwined with politics in Northern Ireland, especially through his embrace of constitutional nationalism but rejection of physical force republicanism.
Key Features
Includes sections on biography, historical, cultural and political contexts, poetry and other genres, as well as a concluding section on primary works and secondary criticismPays special attention to the marriage of form and content in the poetry and how they work together to express subtle shades of meaningOffers close readings of Heaney's canonical poems throughout his career, including the early seminal poems such as Digging, the 'bog poems', and his many elegies, such as Casualty, Station Island, and ClearancesDraws on drafts of the poems and prose at the Heaney archives at Emory University and the National Library of Ireland
Reviews / Votes
This admirable study possesses many virtues: comprehensiveness, clarity of argument and exposition, a series of provocative readings, and a strong sense of the existing scholarship on Heaney. It achieves and surpasses its goal of informing and educating both the beginner and the seasoned reader of Heaney's poetry. It is the best introduction to its subject, and I would recommend that everyone interested in Heaney's work should also read it. -- Joseph Heininger, Dominican University * Canadian Journal of Irish Studies * Russell's Introduction is laudable in its many achievements. Engaging, jargon-free, and well researched, it will be of great help to many students looking to get a clear and comprehensive view of the poet's career and poetry. Russell is clearly an astute reader of poetry, and his close readings are particularly enjoyable. The strength of Seamus Heaney: An Introduction. . .resides in its remarkable balance between the wealth of knowledge and details on the one hand, and the clarity of its presentation, argument, and style on the other. Russell's great admiration for the poet and enthusiasm for his object of study suffuse his writing with energy, making the volume eminently readable, as well as informative. -- Florence Impens * Irish University Review * Those just embarking on a study of the poetry of Heaney could find no more capable or enthusiastic guide than Russell, who is an astute reader of individual poems, yet one who strikes a balance between close reading and tracing the sweep of Heaney's poetry. -- ASHBY BLAND CROWDER * New Hibernia Review, Volume 20, Number 4 * This is a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide, but its particular strengths lie in its analyses of work from the extremes of Heaney's career. Russell is enlighteningly detailed about Heaney's recollections of his own early self; he is also among the first scholars to provide careful, knowledgeable readings of the last poems. Although this is an introduction, and perhaps aimed at undergraduate students, it is no mere compendium of existing interpretations. Because of Russell's deep familiarity with out-of-the-way interviews and archival material, there is plenty of fresh food for thought here. -- Adam Hanna * Year's Work in English Studies * This is an excellent overview of Seamus Heaney's art, from first to last - biographically grounded, contextually alert, perceptive and discriminating in its close readings. Richard Rankin Russell is an eminently readable and reliable guide to the work of one of the truly outstanding poets and literary critics of our time. -- Neil Corcoran, University of Liverpool Richard Rankin Russell brings an impressive combination of knowledge and skill to this steady, patient exploration of Seamus Heaney's poems. Thoughtfully and sympathetically in keeping with Heaney's own meditations on the art of poetry, his book is a valuable and comprehensive introduction to one of the most accomplished poetic careers of our time. -- Stephen Regan, Durham UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 158 mm
Width: 234 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
488 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-0166-1 (9781474401661)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard Rankin Russell is Professor of English and Graduate Program Director in the English department at Baylor University. His books include Seamus Heaney: An Introduction (Edinburgh, 2016); Seamus Heaney's Regions (Notre Dame, 2014, Robert Penn Warren/Cleanth Brooks Award for literary criticism, Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Finalist-History); Modernity, Community, and Place in Brian Friel's Drama (Syracuse, 2014); Bernard MacLaverty: New Critical Readings (Bloomsbury, 2013); Peter Fallon: Poet, Publisher, Editor, and Translator (Irish Academic Press, 2013); Poetry and Peace: Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, and Northern Ireland (Notre Dame, 2010); Bernard MacLaverty (Bucknell, 2009) and Martin McDonagh: A Casebook (Routledge, 2007).
Content
Introduction; 1. Life and Contexts; 2. Burrowing and Bogs: Early Poems, Death of a Naturalist, Door into the Dark, Wintering Out, North; 3. Reading the Ground and the Sky: Field Work, Station Island, The Haw Lantern; 4. Radiance: Seeing Things, The Spirit Level, Electric Light (1991-2001); 5. Return: District and Circle, Human Chain, and Late Uncollected Poetry (2006-2013); 6. Heaney's Prose, Drama, and Translations; Bibliography; Works Cited.