North: Poems

This is Seamus Heaney's fourth book of poems, published in 1975. I previously read his first and second books, "Death of a Naturalist" and "Door into the Dark". In those two books Heaney seemed to me to be more natural than here, where he seems to be trying a tad too hard -- trying, perhaps, to be a poet's poet. To be sure, most of the poems in NORTH are serious stuff. Taken as a whole, however, I don't like them as much as I did the ones in the first two volumes. One of the charms of those first two books was that almost all of the poems were readily comprehensible. Not so in NORTH. As Heaney becomes more intellectual and more serious, he becomes more obscure.Ireland and its history, both mythical and actual, is the main theme of NORTH. In the eighteen poems of Part I, it is Ireland primeval; the poems are filled with bones and blood, bogs and burials. The eight poems of Part II deal with the twentieth-century violence in Northern Ireland, which had been Heaney's home ground. For the most part, I understand -- and "feel" -- these poems more than I do those in Part I.Readers of Irish heritage, imbued with Irish myth and legend, almost surely will respond to NORTH more viscerally, and perhaps more warmly, than I. For me, NORTH is a rather cold, dark, and flinty place.

When i placed the order i expected to receive the exact edition of the book as was advertised. This was not the case. I was out of town for some weeks when the book arrived and am now unable to return it. Very disappointed.

The boyfriend that I mailed this poetry collection to as a gift broke up with me a week later. But that's not Seamus' fault.

What more needs to be said? The best poet in English of the 20th century in my view and the collection North is still among his best work.

Book in new condition.

Love SH. Period. Fabulous. Thoughtful. Imaginative. Cool. Deep. Profound. Smart. Happy. Sad. Wondrous. Irish. Celtic. Seamus Heaney! Seamus Heaney! Seamus Heaney!

I love Heaney so much, I will be naming my first son after him.

Punishment is the best poem.

I have really enjoyed reading this collection with renewed understanding. Such a beautiful use of language.

Amazing man- beautifully written

È stato molto difficile trovare questo libro. Ho dovuto comprarlo usato da una piccola libreria vicino Bologna. Soddisfattissima del mio acquisto, ma io adoro questo poeta irlandese legato alla sua terra in modo viscerale.

Demonstrates how effectively a poet can explain contemporary issues through historical lessons and by not succumbing to a simplistic political propagandising approach

Thank you