Theme Of Punishment By Seamus Heaney

The poems ‘Limbo’ and ‘Bye Child’ by Seamus Heaney are poems that evoke the casualties of sexual and emotional repression in Ireland, as well as and the oppression of both women and un baptized children, in a time where religion was most prominent and people were confined to the guidelines of the church and it’s community, as it was the ruling power. Both poems present this idea through the use of a child, representative of innocence and vulnerability. Through his poetry, Heaney gives a voice to those who have been silenced by society. Heaney manages to create this extended voice and

The speaker marks the poem with “here” to illustrate her spatial position to the swamp. She overlooks the vast and “endless” space that represents an ambiguously arduous distance she is surrounded by has yet to confront the swamp. As she looks outwards to the swamp, alliterative plosives such as “branching,” “burred,” “bogs,” paint the thick texture of the mud and the physical characteristics of her vulgar environment. Sharp “b” sounds

Second element that Heaney uses is imagery, which in this poem is very strong. When he says “Under

In the poem Beowulf (Norton, 36), translated by Seamus Heaney, cultural elements of how religion in the Middle Ages is shifting away from Paganism and into Christianity. When Beowulf was written, approximately 700 – 1000 AD, religion was changing from a nature based polytheistic belief to a monotheistic religion with a central authority. Because of this change in belief, the audience can see the troubled thought or doubt in Christianity. Heaney uses the characters to display both pagan and Christian ideals together with the chaotic monsters and the heroic savior through allusions.

Conroy’s analysis of Northern Ireland is, in the simplest of terms, refreshing. Convoy’s attention to detail and analysis when describing Jimmy Barr’s dealing with the Housing Executive’s, when discussing the hunger strikes, and when discussing the plight of those who live in the Divis Flats all support the notion that Conroy has an understanding of Northern Ireland, even though he’s an outsider. John Conroy’s Belfast Diary is an example of how an outsider can provide a reliable analysis into the communal violence that has consumed Northern Ireland. I believe that Conroy’s outsider perspective, combined with his choice to immerse himself into the culture of Belfast allowed him to write a story that leaves out major biases, a story that

The setting for “The Fatal Sisters” is an eleventh century, war-ridden Ireland.  The nation’s fate appears to rest upon the shoulders of a few bloodthirsty

Identity is pivotal to the story and holds its own innate power, but what is even more pivotal is that the Irish do not necessarily all share the same views. The Irish find their history very important because it is the foundation of the language. Hugh says, “It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language” (88). It is evident then that Hugh finds the historical meanings of

How much does an artist’s life affect the art they produce? One’s art certainly can be an expression of one’s surroundings and in this manner the surroundings are woven like a thread into their body of work. Seamus Heaney, born and raised in Northern Ireland, has grown up with many strong influences in his life that are visible in his poetry. As Robert Buttel claims in his article on Seamus Heaney “the imprint of this poet’s origins is indelibly fixed in his work” (180). Living in the “bogland” as Heaney has described Northern Ireland left an imprint on his poems, as he often depicts the lush green countryside and pastoral scenes of his youth. However, he also acknowledges his modern society.

“Punishment,” a poem written by Irish author Seamus Heaney, speaks of the discovery of the body of a young bog girl, who as realized later in the poem, was punished for being an “adulteress.” (23) On closer inspection and as the poem shifts from past to present the faith of the bog girl is compared with the faith of another woman in more recent violent times, namely The Troubles in Northern Ireland. In this poem Heaney thus comments, through the use of literary devices such as enjambment, contrast, imagery, metaphors and alliteration and through his diction, on the cruelty of human nature, guilt and on the question of whether we have changed and evolved over time or whether we are still, deep inside, as barbaric and savage

This essay will analyse the challenges Seamus Heaney faced during the process of translation and writing, including his own conscious effort to make the play suitable for a modern audience. It will demonstrate how Heaney’s use of language and poetry aided in presenting modern ideas through the timbre of Irish/English diction and idiom in an attempt to make the play more ‘speakable’. Identifying features of Greek theatrical conventions and how Heaney used these to shape his play. Heaney also presents social and political issues through The Burial at Thebes in a way that resonates with a contemporary audience.

The Irish had suffered long before in the hands of the English when Cromwell had been in control and had taken away land held by the catholic majority of the country to members of the protestant minority. This created a large tension among the population with the oppressed majority and the rather entitled minority who by Trevelyan’s snooty tone did indeed see themselves as the superior people in the country. (Trevelyan’s tone is probably the most dismissive when in discussion of the Irish, mayhaps showing his own true dislike.) (Trevelyan, p. 116-

Throughout James Joyce’s “Dubliners” there are four major themes that are all very connected these are regret, realization, self hatred and Moral paralysis, witch is represented with the actual physical paralysis of Father Flynn in “The Sisters”. In this paper I intend to explore the different paths and contours of these themes in the four stories where I think they are most prevalent ,and which I most enjoyed “Araby”, “Eveline”, “The Boarding House”, and “A Little Cloud”.

The poet uses different techniques to bring the out the impacts of slavery on the affected individuals (the slaves). The “grave/slave(s)” rhymed couplet recurs at

Seamus Heaney is a widely celebrated poet from Northern Ireland and was well known for writing about his culture and song-like pieces that touched on historical and ethical natures. In “Punishment”, the piece focuses on the image of a dead girl, now a preserved piece of history, who was supposedly killed for committing adultery in Germany. In the dark, dramatic, and historical poem “Punishment” by Seamus Heaney, he uses overt words and phrasing, internal rhyme, as well as alliteration, metaphors, and other literary devices to uncover the brutality, injustice, and chilling exposedness of the murder of the young girl, who is the subject of the piece.

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was an Irish poet and playwright. His poem “Punishment” was first published in 1975 in a collection of poems called “North.” Heaney wrote this poem and collection of poems after discovering several bog bodies which dated back to the 1500s. The particular women he is describing in the poem, Windeby, is thought to have died of unnatural causes. Heaney compares the circumstances to that of the IRA against the British in Ulster. Heaney talks about the injustice and brutality of the crimes committed to