How Has Heany Expressed His Concern About the Voice of the Silent And Oppressed?

Answer

How has Heany expressed his concern about the voice of the silent and oppressed?

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) is a famous Irish poet who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney’s poetry often grapples with themes of the silent and oppressed. Heaney’s deep connection to the political and social landscape of Northern Ireland, particularly during the Troubles, heavily informs his work.

Several poems exemplify his concern for the silenced and oppressed.

“The Tollund Man”: In “The Tollund Man,” Heaney reflects on discovering a well-preserved Iron Age bog body in Denmark. The poem describes the bog body, which is an ancient sacrificial victim. The description of the bog body draws a parallel between the ancient sacrificial victim and contemporary victims of political violence in Northern Ireland. Heaney writes:

Some day I will go to Aarhus

To see his peat-brown head,

The mild pods of his eye-lids,

His pointed skin cap.

The poem speaks to the continuity of human suffering across time. It suggests that the Tollund Man’s silence echoes the silenced voices of those oppressed by modern conflict. Heaney uses the ancient body as a metaphor to comment on the cyclical nature of violence and the suppression of voices throughout history.

“Punishment”: In this poem, Heaney explores themes of silence and oppression through the figure of a young woman. The young woman was punished for infidelity in Iron Age society. Heaney links this woman’s suffering to the punishment of women in contemporary times:

I can feel the tug

of the halter at the nape

of her neck, the wind

on her naked front.

Heaney critiques the societal oppression of women that led to such brutal acts, both ancient and modern.

“The Strand at Lough Beg”: In “The Strand at Lough Beg,” Heaney addresses the murder of his cousin Colum McCartney during the Troubles. The poem critiques the political violence that claims innocent lives:

Leaving the white glow of filling stations 

And a few lonely streetlamps among fields

And the bus shelter hard as nails,

Its metal bits and bytes.

Here, Heaney gives voice to the personal grief and the silent suffering of individuals caught in the crossfire of political strife.

“North”: In “North,” Heaney uses myth and history to explore themes of conquest and colonization. The poet draws connections between the Viking invasions of Ireland and contemporary political conflicts. In this poem, Heaney points to the persistence of oppression. He addresses the ongoing struggle for identity and voice among the subjugated.

“Casualty”: “Casualty” deals with the loss of a friend who was a victim of bombing on the Irish historical “Bloody Sunday”. The poem portrays the friend as an innocent bystander, a “casualty” of the larger political conflict:

He was blown to bits   

Out drinking in a curfew   

Others obeyed, three nights   

After they shot dead   

The thirteen men in Derry.

In this touching poem, Heaney addresses the loss of his friend to highlight the broader societal silence in the face of violence.

To wrap up, Seamus Heaney consistently expresses concern for the voiceless and oppressed. He uses personal and historical narratives to focus on their suffering and resilience.