Summary
(Seamus Perry, Fellow of Balliol College and Tutor in English Literature, Professor of English, University of Oxford)
«I just finished reading it. I found it very touching; Heaney’s influence on such a wide circle of correspondents comes through with great force.»
(Professor Marc Mulholland, Senior Tutor, St Catherine’s College, Oxford)
Seamus Heaney wrote hundreds of letters and postcards in long hand, answering almost all the letters he received from friends, fellow poets, university professors, arts councils and of course from ordinary fans. He was not only a master of English prose and poetry, but was also highly skilled in the art of writing letters.
The author has selected fragments and parts of this vast correspondence to show how we can see the portrait of the man himself from the way in which he interacted with others.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Archival Sources
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 A Man of Principle
- Chapter 2 A Literary Talent
- Chapter 3 Arousing Feelings of Affection and Gratitude
- Chapter 4 Courage: A Virtuous Deed
- Annex 1 Seamus Heaney: Nobel Lecture
- Annex 2 Permission to Publish the Nobel Lecture
- Annex 3 Letter from Seamus Heaney Estate
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Acknowledgements
KATHY SHOEMAKER
Reference Coordinator, Research Services
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
KELLY DUQUETTE
PhD Candidate, Emory Department of English
Dean’s Teaching Fellow, Center for Faculty Development and Excellence
MARRY ELLEN BUDNEY
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
CHAPTER 1 A Man of Principle
Seamus Heaney was born and spent his childhood in a small Mossbaun farmhouse, with beech trees all around and hedges between the fields, a small bog nearby. This he recognized “as forever part of his landscape”,1 engaging his poetic imagination. He never had any “hesitation in giving to humble everyday parochial farm activities the dignity they deserve”.2 This humility itself dignified Heaney’s entire life. Then there is his remarkable family life: “a cattle-dealing father, a much loved mother and aunt, presiding jointly over the domestic world.”3 This “instinctive natural affection in parents towards their children” was passed down by Heaney to his own children, and to his wife, Marie. It endorsed the effect of habit. It was wonderfully strong towards his brothers. The death by accident of his three and a half year-old brother Christopher haunted Heaney’s memory and made him pen down later:4
…
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Details
- Pages
- XII, 70
- Year
- 2024
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781803744902
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781803744919
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781803744896
- DOI
- 10.3726/b21891
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2024 (April)
- Keywords
- Seamus Heaney correspondence portrait letter writing poetry and prose writer
- Published
- Oxford, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, 2024. XII, 70 pp.
