Death of a Naturalist

Seamus Heaney's first collection of poems is an accessible and understated experiment in lyrical description. It was written in 1966 and what first strikes the contemporary is an adherence to metrical and rhyming (usually off-rhyming) patterns now considered undesirably strict. Much of the time Heaney smacks of Larkin - without (for this reader) the touch of Larkin's charismatic individuality. But one quickly appreciates the earnest craftsmanship of these poems. Indeed Heaney's characteristic equation of poetry with 'working', 'labouring', etc. is evident throughout these early pieces. 'Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests. / I'll dig with it.': there are many instances here of words being forged or moulded or indeed excavated to create a construct of sincere meaning. This is what poetry is all about. Heaney has a strong, unambiguously masculine voice that can, at times, sound like sixteenth-century verse ('Scaffolding' reads like a latterday metaphysical poem). Elsewhere - despite a perhaps enervating lack of humour and whimsicality (although, on consideration, it is by no means a total lack) - these poems sound confident, clear-sighted and sensitive in the way that farmers are (gruffly) sensitive.

Skeptical at first, it was required reading [in university] that turned out to be welcome reading. Not only are the poems very well written [as would be expected from a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature] but the way they are presented makes them all the more interesting. He approaches his own life, looking at his transition from childhood to adulthood and his decision of poetry over the rural life of his family.Noteable poems in this volume include: Digging, Death of a Naturalist, The Early Surges, Lovers on Aran, Poem, and Synge on Aran. 34 poems in total.