How has Seamus Heaney shown the transience of joy and beauty in “Blackberry-picking”

Answer

How has Seamus Heaney shown the transience of joy and beauty in “Blackberry-picking” [2021, 2016] ✪✪✪  

Seamus Heaney’s (1939-2013) poem “Blackberry-Picking” (1966) shows how joy and beauty in life do not last forever. He uses the simple story of picking blackberries to express how happiness fades with time. The poem starts with the excitement of picking blackberries. But soon the blackberries rot. It shows how all beautiful things in life quickly pass away.

The Joy of Picking Berries: At the beginning of the poem, Heaney describes a child’s excitement of picking ripe blackberries. The berries are beautiful and sweet. The first ripe one was—

“…Sweet

Like thickened wine.”

The child wants to pick more. The children run through the fields with “milk cans” and “jam-pots,” full of joy. Their hands are scratched and sticky. But they do not care because they are so happy. This part of the poem shows the beauty and excitement of childhood. It also shows the joy of simple pleasures.

Decay and Disappointment: When the children bring the berries home, their happiness ends. The berries start to rot. The sweet fruit becomes stinking and sour. The child feels like crying because the joy he felt has quickly disappeared. He feels so sad and says:

“It wasn’t fair

That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.”

This shows the truth that nothing beautiful or joyful can last forever.

Through this simple story, Heaney teaches a deep lesson. The excitement of picking blackberries stands for the short moments of joy in life. The rotting berries show how quickly beauty fades. “Blackberry-Picking” reminds us that happiness is sweet but temporary.